


I’ve lately had two spiders crawling upon my startled hopes

by TheEclecticSoul



Category: Daredevil (TV), Jessica Jones (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Gwen (Comics), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Domestic Avengers, Drama, F/M, Hurt Gwen Stacy, Hurt Peter Parker, M/M, Mind Control, Mystery, Not Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie) Compliant, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Protective Avengers, Psychological Trauma, Suspense, Timeline What Timeline
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-28
Updated: 2019-09-28
Packaged: 2019-09-29 12:50:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 47,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17203730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheEclecticSoul/pseuds/TheEclecticSoul
Summary: “Sir, I am detecting hostile forces in the basement,” JARVIS suddenly announced, and Tony turned in his seat as holographic displays popped up. His eyes narrowed as he watched the men with pistols calmly strode into basement of his building before two figures tumbled out of a vent into one of the generator rooms. Tony was instantly on his feet as he saw the figures as two kids, one boy and one girl, and the boy wasn’t getting up.orA couple of homeless spider-kids meet the Avengers.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited 2/9/2019 - Story element updates.  
> Edited 4/13/2019 - Updated Tony's POV in the naming (so Steve is Rogers, Wanda is Maximoff, Natasha is Romanoff.) Also fixed Gwen's last name (oh, it's _not_ spelled Stacey? Oopsie...)

“Sir, I am detecting hostile forces in the basement,” JARVIS suddenly announced, and Tony turned in his seat as holographic displays popped up. His eyes narrowed as he watched the men with pistols calmly strode into the basement of his building before two figures tumbled out of a vent into one of the generator rooms. Tony was instantly on his feet as he saw the figures as two kids, one boy and one girl, and the boy wasn’t getting up.

“JARVIS, audio on B2-34,” Tony said. “And who’s awake?”

“ _—it, shit, shit_ ,” the girl hissed as she yanked at the boy’s clothes, exposing his wounded side. “ _Hang on, Peter, hang on._ ”

“Sir, Captain Rogers, Sergeant Barnes, Ms. Romanoff and Mr. Barton are in the common room.”

“JARVIS, lock down the basement and open a line to the common room.” Tony watched everybody on the cameras jumped as JARVIS initiated lockdown. “Guys, we have company of the unsavory type in sub-basement two. Looks like they’re chasing a couple of kids.”

“ _How many?_ ” Rogers asked.

“Ten hostiles, Captain Rogers,” JARVIS replied. “All armed with nine-millimeters.”

“Clint, grab a medkit,” Tony added. “One of the kids’ been shot, can’t tell if it’s a through-and-through.” He could hear the anger vibrating through the comms at that, watching as the hostiles looked around in confusion.

“ _Something’s happening, Peter, don’t know what_ ,” the girl said quietly as she pressed her hand against Peter’s wound. “ _Oh no, why are you still bleeding? I-I’m putting pressure, why—_ ”

“JARVIS, open a line to the kids,” Tony said. “Kid, press harder.” The girl jumped, looking around wildly.

“ _Wh—?_ ”

“Press harder on the wound if you don’t want your friend to bleed out,” Tony ordered. “Help’s on the way.” The girl gave a sharp nod, sniffling a bit as she pressed harder on the wound, grimacing as Peter made a pained expression.

Tony smiled tightly as the displays showed Barnes grabbing one of the gunmen, easily snapping his neck, Romanoff appearing out of nowhere to take down another while Rogers took out two quietly. 

“ _Sorry, Peter, sorry_ ,” the girl said softly. “ _Don’t worry, just breathe._ ” Peter gasped and waved a hand at her, and she smiled tightly.

Barnes viciously killed another two and Tony twitched at the sight of the man’s blank expression. Romanoff took out two more, Rogers moving in to help.

“ _Yeah, I’m okay, don’t worry_ ,” she replied and Tony frowned as he realized the boy was mute. Clint suddenly jumped out of the vent, causing the girl to jump in surprise with a squeak.

“ _Hey, no, wait, I’m here to help_ ,” Clint said, both hands up. Now that Clint was there, Tony turned his attention to the last two.

“Guys, hang a left and catch the last two alive? I want to know why they were chasing the kids,” Tony said before he strode out of his lab and down the stairs to get the Medbay ready. Sam was still down in D.C., and Bruce was with Pepper and Maria at a science conference, so that left the medical treatment in his capable hands. A few minutes later Clint arrived with Peter in his arms, the girl following, clutching both hers and Peter’s bags and wearing a terrified expression.

They really _were_ just a couple of kids.

Clint placed Peter gently onto the medical bed, a hand gently brushing the boy’s hair back. Peter was sweating, a pained expression on his face, and Tony was impressed that the kid was still conscious as he and Clint pulled off Peter’s jacket, cutting away his shirts.

“Not a through-and-through, Tony,” Clint said then squinted as he pulled back the bandages. “Wound is a lot smaller than I thought. We’re going to have to dig out the bullet.” Peter jerked at that, squirming to get away, and both Clint and Tony moved to hold him down. Tony was surprised at how strong the kid was.

“Peter. Peter!” The girl popped up at the foot of the bed. “Let them help, okay?” Peter signed something at her, looking scared. Clint raised an eyebrow then gently patted Peter’s shoulder.

“It’ll be fine, Peter,” Clint said soothingly. “We have the good stuff, it won’t hurt too bad.” Peter eyed Clint, looking surprised that the archer knew sign language before hesitantly nodding.

“It, um, the good stuff, it-it might not work so well on him,” the girl said hesitantly and Peter scowled at her as Tony and Clint gave her a questioning look. “We-we metabolize it too fast.”

“Fast healing?” Clint asked and the girl gave a sharp nod. “Shit, no wonder it’s such a small wound.”

“Like Barnes or Rogers?” Tony questioned and the girl gave him a blank look. “Crap, I’m going to go on a limb and say Barnes – Rogers’s could kill a horse.” He quickly moved to get the enhanced anesthetic and hooked up Peter, carefully monitoring as the boy started to drift. A nod to Clint, and Tony heard the girl squeak and turn around as Clint began to work on Peter.

Peter’s eyes slid up at Tony and a dopey smile crossed his lips before he mouthed something. Tony raised an eyebrow, gently running his hand through the boy’s hair and watching as Peter’s eyes droop.

“Got it,” Clint said and there was a plink as he dropped the bullet into a pan. “Whoa. Uh. Huh.”

“Clint?” Tony asked and Clint pointed. Tony shifted to look and both his eyebrows went up as he realized the wound was slowly closing. “Huh. Pretty fast. Not as fast as Rogers, but definitely faster than Barnes.”

“Looks like.” Clint turned his attention to the girl. “So, anything else we should know about?”

“I can do the same?” she replied after a moment’s pause. Tony hummed thoughtfully.

.

.

.

“Everybody, meet Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy,” Tony announced, pulling up pictures of the two teens. “Both of them are fourteen.”

The group sans Romanoff all tensed at that, Clint leaning forward slightly.

“Where are their parents?” Rogers asked, shifting slightly as Maximoff curled up closer against him, the young woman having just woken up and still a little bleary. Tony grimaced.

“Well, Peter’s parents died in a plane crash over the Alps a few months after he was born,” Tony started, pulling up the article. “His dad was a former SHIELD agent Richard Parker—”

Both Rogers and Clint stiffened, the archer’s expression going dark.

“—and his mom was a linguist for the CIA. Thanks to Romanoff’s info dump, it looked like they were investigating suspicious movements in Austria,” Tony continued, his eyes sliding over to Barnes. “The crash may or may not have been an accident. Any idea, Barnes?”

“Wasn’t me,” Barnes answered flatly as Rogers and Maximoff both glared at Tony. Tony shrugged again before continuing.

“Anyway, Peter’s new guardians were Ben and May Parker. Ben was a beat cop, stationed in Queens and May was a nurse.” Tony hesitated for a moment. “Ben was killed last November, right in front of the kid.” He brought up the obituary with Ben’s picture.

“Shit,” Clint muttered as Rogers frowned. Barnes and Maximoff’s expressions went blank, the former flexing his metal fingers the only sign of unease.

“Gets worse. A couple months later there was a home invasion at the Parkers’ apartment.” This time a police report was displayed. “Thankfully Peter was out with friends, but his other guardian May? She didn’t make it.

“So Peter goes to stay with family friend Captain George Stacy and his daughter Gwen. Seems safe, yeah?” Tony shook his head, pulling up another article. “Except Captain Stacy was found dead, execution-style, in an abandoned warehouse in March, and it looked like his house was tossed.”

“Someone is chasing Peter,” Rogers concluded grimly. “Captain Stacy was collateral.” The group all had a dark expression and Tony shifted slightly.

“And you would be right, Rogers,” Tony said, pulling up another police report. He ignored the tiny flinch from Rogers, continuing on. “Back in October, Ben Parker stumbled onto a Maggia drug deal going down, and managed to not only survive it, but also point the finger at one of their top lieutenants. DA had a field day in shutting that guy up.” A news article popped up and there were nods around the room – Ben Parker had done a great service by help locking up that particular person.

“And, before you say anything, this isn’t the forties anymore,” Tony quickly added, raising a hand up at Rogers. “If the Maggia thinks a person has information on them, they will ruthlessly kill everybody and burn everything to make sure nothing can connect back to them. That lieutenant? He’s dead now.” An article was thrown up with the headline announcing the man had been found dead in his cell.

“So those kids are still in danger,” Wanda said slowly.

“Yup.” Tony exchanged a look with Clint. “And there’s a chance it’s not just the Maggia chasing them. I don’t have Bruce’s skillset, but even I know when genes have been modified.” A display of three DNA strands popped up and Tony motioned at them.

“The left two are Peter and Gwen’s DNA,” Tony said. “The one on the right is what us normal people are suppose to have.” Tony paused, his eyes sliding over to the two super soldiers.

“Not going to lie, but I think they’ve been exposed to a version of the serum,” Tony concluded. Rogers grimaced while Barnes’s expression went dark. “Not sure what this version does, but it’s enough that we had to use an enhanced anesthetic on Peter. He should theoretically be completely healed by tomorrow morning, give or take a few good meals.”

“Which is why we have another problem,” Romanoff said as she arrived with a tablet in hand. “I checked the bodies, and three of them were HYDRA.” Barnes’s expression turned murderous and Wanda shifted, a wisp of red in her eyes. She looked over at Tony. “Any idea how the kids were exposed?”

“No clue, and neither of them are offering to say anything.” Tony paused. “Well, Gwen’s not saying anything, Peter physically _can’t_.”

“He’s mute,” Clint added, tilting his head slightly. “Must be recent, his signing’s pretty sloppy and may have accidentally thrown a couple curse words instead of what he really meant. I should teach him the proper hand gestures so he won’t offend little old deaf ladies.”

“Might want to check with Sam too,” Tony added, glancing at Rogers. “Gwen’s okay so far, but I think it’s because she’s been using Peter as a way to cope. And, fuck, Peter’s been hit with trauma after trauma, the being mute thing is probably just one of the many things he’s doing to cope.”

“Good idea,” Rogers agreed, pulling out his phone and shooting a text to Sam. “Where should they stay after Peter’s healed? Obviously not in Medical.”

“They can stay with me on my floor,” Maximoff suddenly said and the team looked at her. “I’m the youngest here and they might be more comfortable with someone who’s close to their age.” 

“Sounds good to me,” Tony said as the team nodded in agreement.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Their attention was suddenly drawn to the door as Tony Stark and Hawkeye entered the room. Gwen shifted slightly, moving closer to Peter as though to shield him. He glanced down to see his hands fisting the blankets, his heartbeat fluttering even faster.
> 
> It was Hawkeye and Tony Stark. They were Avengers, _heroes_. They were _safe_.
> 
> Why won’t his brain understand that?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited 4/13/2019 - Updated Peter's naming (ie. Steve is Captain America, Tony is Tony Stark, etc.)

Peter woke up to Gwen staring down at him. With a silent squawk he flailed in surprise, earning a giggle from Gwen and a tug of dull pain on his side. Grimacing, Peter sat up and checked his side, blinking at the bandage wrapped around him.

“You okay?” Peter signed and Gwen nodded.

“Better than you. You did get shot.” Peter huffed at that while Gwen shrugged. Their attention was suddenly drawn to the door as Tony Stark and Hawkeye entered the room. Gwen shifted slightly, moving closer to Peter as though to shield him. He glanced down to see his hands fisting the blankets, his heartbeat fluttering even faster.

It was Hawkeye and Tony Stark. They were Avengers, _heroes_. They were _safe_.

Why won’t his brain understand that?

“Morning!” Hawkeye greeted them cheerfully as Tony Stark took a seat, swiveling slightly as he eyed them. “Mind if I check on you, kid?” Peter glanced at Gwen and she nodded, moving to the side as Hawkeye sidled over. Hawkeye paused for a moment then reached out to gently pulled away the bandages, an eyebrow going up.

“Hm, not healing as fast as Cap but faster than Barnes,” Hawkeye noted then glanced up at Peter. “When was the last time you two had a decent meal?” Both Gwen and Peter’s stomachs growled in response and they turned red, earning a chuckle from Hawkeye and a snort from Tony Stark.

“Sounds like Cap and Barnes,” Tony Stark said evenly then got up. “Come on, you two, let’s see if you two and the Russo-American twins can actually clean out my pantry.”

Peter glanced at Hawkeye and the man shrugged.

“I kind of want to see if that’ll happen,” Hawkeye admitted.

.

.

Peter couldn’t believe his eyes as he and Gwen sat at the kitchen counter, watching Captain America and the Winter Soldier – or as Tony Stark called them, the Russo-American twins – cook pancakes, bacon and eggs. He watched as Hawkeye and Tony Stark somehow squeezed in between the two super soldiers, the former reappearing with two glasses of orange juice for them while Tony Stark placed a cup of coffee next to the archer, a mug in his own hand.

“So. Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy,” Tony Stark said as he moved to lean against the counter, sipping his coffee. Peter tensed, eyes sliding between the billionaire and Hawkeye. Captain America and the Winter Soldier were focused on cooking, but he was sure that—

“It’s okay, Peter,” Gwen said quietly, a hand squeezing his own. “It’s the Avengers, Peter, we’re in the safest place in the world right now.”

A pause.

“Well, unless someone decides to bomb the place like in Malibu.”

“Not your smartest move, Tony,” Captain America said, faint amusement in his tone as he placed two plates before Gwen and Peter, stacked high with pancakes, scrambled eggs and bacon. Peter heard both their stomachs growl at the sight, and a quiet snort of amusement from the Winter Soldier.

“Shut up,” Tony Stark grumped then slurped his coffee. “But yeah, safest place in New York and all that. So. Maggia and HYDRA, huh?”

“Uh. Wait. What? Hydra?” Gwen blinked at the change in subject then shared a confused look with Peter. “Shouldn’t it be—” Peter squeezed her hand, shook his head, and Gwen shut her mouth with an audible click. 

“S-sorry, um, no idea who or what a hydra is, outside of the myth,” Gwen said instead, picking up her fork and knife, and started to eat. Peter also started to eat, absently smiling at how good it tasted. It had been a long time since he’d eaten a home-made meal, and it brought up feelings of warmth and safety.

“Okay,” Tony Stark said after a moment. “Well, we can worry about that later. Bruce should be back by dinner tonight, and I’d like him to give you two a check-up tomorrow.” Peter blinked at that, slowly lowering his fork and knife as he gave Tony Stark a nervous look. The billionaire seemed to notice Peter’s hesitancy and sighed.

“Look, I know you two have been exposed to something similar to Rogers and Barnes,” Tony Stark said, nodding towards Captain America and the Winter Soldier. Peter didn’t miss the pained look from Captain America at the name, and he couldn’t help but absently wonder what had happened. “And like Bruce, except his exposure made him a bit unstable. I just want to make sure you two are stable.”

“Um, well, pretty sure we’re both pretty stable,” Gwen said slowly, nibbling on a piece of bacon. “I mean, a building fell on top of us once and we got out fine.” There was a clatter as the four adults in the room all stared at her, and Peter dropped his face into his hands with a sigh.

“Right. Well. Okay then,” Tony Stark said faintly, his eyebrows up. “Good, uh, good to know. I was thinking more along the lines of the possibility of having two teenage-Hulks in the building.” Peter slowly raised a hand, a finger pointing at Gwen, and grinned when she smacked his hand with a scowl. There was a glimmer of humor in Tony Stark’s eyes, and Hawkeye snorted in amusement.

“Jerk,” Gwen grumbled, turning back to breakfast, blinking when she realized there were suddenly more bacon and pancakes on her plate. She narrowed her eyes at Peter, and he shook his head, glancing towards the Winter Soldier.

“Yes, he is indeed stealth-mothering you,” Hawkeye said with a snicker, taking a bite of his pancakes. The Winter Soldier threw a glare at Hawkeye, and Peter tensed at that, looking down at his food to try and relax. Gwen placed a hand on his knee, squeezing it gently. 

They weren’t going to hurt him. He was safe. _They_ were safe.

“Ooh, pancakes!” a young woman cheered as she stepped out of the elevator, followed by the Black Widow. Peter looked warily at them as the Black Widow ignored them for a cup of coffee. The young woman poured two mugs, handing one to the Black Widow before dumping what had to be a cup of sugar and milk into her own.

“Why? Why do you do that to perfectly good coffee?” Tony Stark whined as the woman sipped at the coffee-flavored sugar sludge.

“It’s the best way to drink coffee,” she replied with a sniff before turning her attention towards Peter and Gwen. “Oh! Good morning! I’m Wanda.”

“Hello,” Gwen replied cheerfully as Peter ducked his head and gave a small hand wave.

.

.

.

Strangely enough, while Gwen was fine with Maximoff, Peter was wary of her. He seemed fine with Romanoff, and a quick look at the redhead told Tony that she was fine with Peter hanging around her. That gave some relief to Tony’s mind as he, Romanoff and Maximoff took the two on a shopping run. The clothes the two kids had were ratty and threadbare, and really, neither had enough underwear to even last a week.

Fucking criminal.

And there’s the fact that Peter had been shot and bled all over on some of his shirts, and he and Clint had cut them off which meant Peter had even less clothes to wear.

Hence, shopping.

“We’re starting with Old Navy or Uniqlo or both,” Maximoff announced as they piled into the car, “because they at least need the basics.”

“Old Navy? Seriously?” Tony asked, turning in his seat to squint at Maximoff. Peter shifted and Tony glanced over to see Peter and Gwen holding hands, and not in a sweetheart sort of way.

He couldn’t tell if it was more of a comforting way or a keep-Peter-from-jumping-out-the-car way.

“Yes, Old Navy,” Romanoff agreed. “I’m pretty sure neither of them wants $300 t-shirts.”

“$300-wait, _what?_ ” Gwen choked out as Peter stared at Tony with wide confused eyes. “Who the fuck would buy a _$300 t-shirt?!_ ”

“Language,” Tony said, turning back to start the car. “Ah, crap, did I just say that, Romanoff? I did, didn’t I, god damn it, this is all Rogers and Barnes’ fault.”

“More Steve than Bucky,” Romanoff hummed with a faint smile. Tony muttered out a few choice words under his breath, and noticed in his rear-view mirror when Peter covered his mouth to hide a smile.

_Possible super senses?_

“Fine, Old Navy first,” Tony grumbled, turning on his music. 

“Oh, hey, you’re a Black Sabbath fan, Mr. Stark?” Gwen piped up happily. “You have awesome taste in music. Let me guess, ‘Iron Man’ is your favorite song.”

“Actually _‘Paranoid’_ is my favorite. Hell, _Paranoid_ the album was my favorite,” Tony replied with a laugh. “And _thank you! Finally!_ Someone who has excellent taste in music to talk to.” Both Romanoff and Maximoff rolled their eyes while Peter grinned, silently laughing at them.

.

.

Their shopping adventure turned out quite well, and Peter finally losing his caution towards Maximoff was bonus. Tony decided that ice-cream was in order, and steered the group towards Haagen Daaz.

“So what’s it going to be?” Tony asked, clapping a hand on Gwen and Peter’s shoulders. The moment Tony touched Peter’s shoulder, he saw and felt the boy flinch. He quickly pulled away, Romanoff moving between them, and he shared a quick look with the redhead.

Peter may have lost his caution towards Maximoff, but that didn’t mean he’d lost his fear towards Tony. Honestly, it kind of hurt to know that Peter couldn’t trust and feared him.

“Rocky road, got to go with rocky road,” Gwen said with a nod then grinned at Tony as she began to hum. He chuckled when he recognized the tune as _‘I Love Rock ‘n Roll’_.

Oh, Weird Al. Gwen seriously had excellent taste in music.

“Belgian chocolate for me,” Wanda said, leaning over. “What about you, Peter?” He shyly pointed to one of the labels and Wanda nodded.

“Cookie dough for Peter,” Maximoff added. With his own coffee ice-cream and Romanoff’s raspberry sorbet, the group found a seat to eat. Romanoff pulled out her phone, glanced down then put it away, and Tony raised an eyebrow at her.

“Pepper, Maria and Bruce are home,” Romanoff said quietly and licked her sorbet. Tony nodded, watching as Gwen and Maximoff chattered happily, Peter glancing warily about as he ate his ice cream.

This time it hurt to know that Peter couldn’t stop his constant vigilance. He was fourteen-years-old, he should be happy, having fun, hanging out with friends, and not waiting for the next attack.

“Come on, let’s go home,” Tony said, finishing up his ice-cream. “Got more people for you to meet.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He did perk up when he recognized Bruce, and for a moment, they all saw Peter’s eyes shine, the wariness disappearing and a normal teenager, almost bouncing with excitement, stood in his place. Then Peter glanced around the room and the teenager disappeared, the wariness returning.

Pepper, Maria and Bruce officially met Peter and Gwen that afternoon. Gwen took to the three easily enough, cheerfully introducing both herself and Peter. Peter, on the other hand, was comfortable with just Pepper, and that confused the adults.

He did perk up when he recognized Bruce, and for a moment, they all saw Peter’s eyes shine, the wariness disappearing and a normal teenager, almost bouncing with excitement, stood in his place. Then Peter glanced around the room and the teenager disappeared, the wariness returning.

“What happened to him?” Bruce asked quietly when the two kids left with Wanda and Pepper, shopping bags in hand. Tony rubbed his face with his hand as Steve gave the doctor a brief summary. Bruce grimaced, rubbing the back of his neck.

“At the very least, he doesn’t trust men,” Clint added slowly. “Probably because most of them have tried to kill him, though I got to say, seeing him brighten up around you, that was new.”

“He’s wary of dark-haired women,” Natasha noted. “It took him a while to warm up to Wanda. He’s probably going to take some time to warm up to Maria.”

“The hell happened to this kid?” Tony demanded. “Rogers, tell me Sam’s coming up soon.”

“He’ll be here tomorrow, around noon,” Steve replied as he double-checked his phone then looked at Maria. “Nat said a few of the men chasing them were HYDRA. Did we miss some?”

“No, you got all of the major bases,” Maria replied, crossing her arms. “SHIELD’s taking out the more minor bases, but they have had some run-ins with von Strucker’s son recently.”

“So it’s Baby HYDRA we should be worried about,” Tony grumbled. 

“Maybe.” The group looked at Maria. “SHIELD’s dealing with what’s left of HYDRA, but I don’t think it’s just HYDRA looking for the kids. We should find who enhanced them in the first place.”

“Makes sense,” Bruce said. “Whoever enhanced them will want them back, and may do whatever they can to retrieve them.” There was a slight bitterness in his voice, and Natasha pressed a hand gently against his back. He gave Natasha a small smile and she returned it.

“I’m trusting SHIELD to take care of HYDRA,” Steve said thoughtfully, “but let them know that Bucky and I are more than willing to help take care of a base or hunt down a target.”

“Damn right,” Bucky growled and Maria nodded.

“Which leaves the Maggia and our third-party,” Steve continued. “To—Stark, you think you can dig up more on what Ben Parker stumbled over? The Maggia shouldn’t be chasing after Peter, not after his uncle helped throw the man into jail. There has to be something more.”

No one missed the slight slip, but Tony nodded.

“Bruce, see what you can find out about the kids’ enhancements. Stark said they were healing faster than Bucky, I want to know what other abilities they may have.”

“Sure, Steve,” Bruce agreed with a nod. “Maybe I can find out who worked on the serum as well, they may have left a calling card.”

“That’d be good. Let Stark or Maria know if you find anything.”

“And Wanda, Clint and I?” Natasha prompted.

“Wanda’s building up a rapport with the kids, which is a good thing, and I’d like you to help with that,” Steve said then looked at Clint. “Peter’s fine with Wanda and Nat, but I think he’ll get comfortable with you when you start teaching him ASL.” Steve paused then glanced at Tony.

“I know Pepper’s busy with the company, but I hope she could lend a hand, just in case.”

“I think she’d be fine with it,” Tony replied with a shrug. “She’s not due to leave New York for a couple of weeks.”

“How long have they been on the run? Half a year?” Clint prompted. “Maybe you can spin up some homework for them, they may like to have something normal to fall back on.” Both Tony and Steve nodded at that before the soldier started towards the kitchen.

“Let me start dinner,” Steve said, Bucky quickly following. “The sauces should be done, and I’m pretty sure the kids will enjoy something familiar and home-made.”

“Pretty sure they loved breakfast,” Natasha said lightly.

“Have to plan on making some more food,” Steve said absently. “Maybe bake some muffins now that we’re feeding two extra enhanced people, and seeing as they’re kids, they may give Buck and I a run for most hungry.”

“…Crap, I should double the grocery orders,” Tony muttered, sounding a bit worried.

.

.

Peter and Gwen goggled at the sight of Steve rolling out pizza dough when they returned from Wanda’s apartment. The rest of the Avengers all looked on in bemusement at the kids’ reaction.

“You make your own pizza?” Gwen asked in surprise and Steve shrugged.

“It’s a thing,” he replied, throwing a small smile at the kids. “Buck and my metabolism require eating a lot, and spending money outside is good once in a while. At least with cooking, you can have your food the way you like it.”

“And you know what goes in it,” Bruce added as he puttered over to a smaller pot on the stove and checked. “Is this palak?”

“Yeah, and I prepped some dough for the naan,” Steve said, nodding his head towards the counter. 

“What’s palak?” Gwen asked curiously.

“Indian spinach curry,” Steve replied. “Bruce here is vegetarian, and he picked up a lot of recipes from around the world. He taught me how to make this dish.” Bruce smiled as he washed his hands then pulled out the dough for naan. Peter made some hand gestures then jumped when Clint suddenly appeared next to him.

“You’re doing it wrong,” Clint said. “You do it like this.” He signed at Peter who watched then hesitantly mimicked it. It didn’t escape their notice that Peter had leaned slightly away from Clint. Peter signed something else and Clint raised an eyebrow.

“I think I know what you’re asking, but the way you just signed, it was all gibberish,” he replied in amusement and Peter gave Clint an embarrassed look. “But yes, I do indeed know sign language. I’m about 80% deaf.”

“Imagine my surprise and awe at how he can still do his super-spy thing without a problem,” Steve said with a chuckle. Clint looked embarrassed by Steve’s confession, scowling when Natasha patted his head.

“Good boy,” Natasha cooed with a smirk.

“Fuck off, Nat,” Clint growled.

“Language,” Steve automatically said then sighed as the group laughed at him. “Come on, watch your language, guys, there are kids here.” Peter turned his head to give Gwen a look and she rolled her eyes.

“So what’s your favorite pizza toppings?” Clint asked, glancing at Steve.

“Cheese,” Gwen instantly replied. “Peter’s is Margherita, but if you’re willing to get fancy—” Peter elbowed Gwen and she glared at him.

“I can go fancy,” Steve said easily. “To—Stark’s paying for the ingredients.”

“I swear, all my money is going into nothing but tech and food,” the billionaire groused.

“That’s what happens when you bankroll a group of super-heroes,” Pepper said easily. “Now how fancy do you want your pizza?”

“May.” Gwen paused, sharing a look with Peter and he gave a nod after a moment. “Peter’s aunt May, she makes—she made great pizza. We can fancy up the cheese with four cheeses, and if you got the stuff maybe the one with the egg?” She looked at Peter, and he frowned, waving a hand for a writing instrument. He jumped when Tony shoved his tablet in his face, looking warily at the billionaire before hesitantly taking it.

“Thank you,” he signed, glancing at Clint to make sure he did it correct and the archer nodded.

“ _Capricciosa_ ,” Peter typed out. “ _Prosciutto, mozzarella, mushrooms, artichokes, olives, and a soft-boil egg on top._ ”

“Oh, that is _fancy_ ,” Clint said, raising an eyebrow. “Steve, make that, I want it in my mouth.” Steve rolled his eyes, but nodded as Gwen snickered and Peter silently laughed.

“I think I’ve had that before,” Tony mused thoughtfully. Peter held the tablet back at Tony and the billionaire waved it away. “Nah, keep it for now. You can write to us non-ASL speakers.”

.

.

“Alright, Pete, I got to say, your aunt was a fucking genius,” Tony groaned as he slumped into the couch. “That was one of the best pizzas I’ve ever had.”

“His aunt made amazing Italian food,” Gwen agreed. “Peter knows how to make her tiramisu, maybe he can make it for you guys.” Peter made a sleepy noise at that, snuggling a little closer to Gwen. There was the sound of dishes being loaded into the dishwasher, Bruce and Natasha bickering over the best placement. Both Pepper and Maria had left, the former gone down to the office for a meeting with the Japanese office while the latter had disappeared, either for SI or SHIELD-related business.

They had completely polished off all of the pizza, and the kids had enjoyed the palak and naan. Dessert had been simple, cheesecakes from Eileen’s with coffee and tea. Peter gestured at Gwen and Clint snickered, shaking his head as Peter gave him a sleepy scowl.

“Oh, the palak reminded him of Thai food,” Gwen said when the others looked at her. “We, uh, we get Thai every other Friday, when dad. When dad and I hung out with Ben and May. Movies and board games.” A fond, sad smile crossed Gwen’s lip as she gently ran her fingers through Peter’s hair. 

“I don’t think he’s going to make it the beginning of the movie,” Clint noted with a chuckle. Wanda giggled as she cuddled up against Bucky, eyes sliding over as Steve came back after delivering the last dirty dish to Bruce and Natasha. A fond smile crossed the captain’s lips as he looked over the team before settling on Peter. The boy seemed content to fall asleep on top of Gwen, and Steve let out a quiet chuckle.

“Hey, let me get him to his room,” Steve said quietly as he crossed over.

“Uh, Rogers, wait—” Tony started but it was too late. The moment Steve touched Peter’s shoulder, the teen’s eyes snapped open and he flung Steve across the room.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The moment Sam entered the common room, he stopped in surprise. There were two teenagers, one at the kitchen counter and one at the dining table, and both were working on tablets.
> 
> “What’s going on?” Sam asked slowly, catching everybody’s attention. “Who had kids? Tony, Steve, are they yours?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited 4/13/2019 - Updated some story elements.

Steve hit the floor hard with a grunt, vaguely hearing Gwen calling after Peter as the boy rushed out of the room. Bucky and Tony were both quickly at his side and helping him up, Bucky checking his head for any injuries.

“I-We- _Oh my god_ , I’m so sorry, Captain Rogers!” Gwen stammered out, rushing towards the border of the common room and looking back at him. “I-He-I am so sorry! Wanda, can you help?” 

“Yes, of course.” Both girls ran after Peter, calling out to him.

“Ouch,” Steve managed. “Kid’s got a hell of an arm. Quit it, Buck, I’m fine.”

“JARVIS!” Tony barked out, taking a few steps towards the backrooms then stopped. “Wait, shit, no.”

“Ms. Stacy and Ms. Maximoff have found Mr. Parker,” JARVIS reported. “I believe he is having a panic attack.”

“Shoot, that’s my fault,” Steve said with a wince. “I didn’t think—”

“All you saw was a kid about to pass out and thought to put him in bed,” Tony pointed out. “Maybe you should have asked first, but hindsight is twenty-twenty, Rogers. Romanoff, do you mind…?”

“Got it.” Natasha quickly disappeared towards the backrooms, JARVIS lighting the way to the kids. Clint hovered before the hallway with a worried expression as Bruce hurried over, pausing when Steve waved him back. Instead the doctor joined Clint near the hallway, peering into the darkness.

“I think this is more than abuse,” Bruce said quietly. “The fear of men?” There was a pause as realization washed over the group, and a thunderous look crossed both Tony and Bucky’s faces as Clint swore. Steve looked both horrified and guilty at the same time.

“Fuck,” Steve muttered.

.

.

Peter was curled up in the furthest corner of the furthest guestroom when Gwen and Wanda found him. He was rocking slightly, head between his knees and his hands over his head.

“Peter?” Gwen called out as she stepped into the room. “Peter, it’s okay, it’s just me and Wanda. Come on, breathe with me.” She knelt down close to Peter, but didn’t touch him.

“You’re safe, Peter, no one here is going to hurt you, it’s just me and Wanda.” A choked hiccup and Gwen bit her lower lip worriedly, glancing over her shoulder at Wanda who was looking just as worried. 

“Come up to my floor,” Wanda added quietly. “It is safe there. I will be there.”

“Think you can make it to her floor, Peter?” Gwen asked. “I-I can find Natasha, have her come with us.”

“I’m here,” Natasha said, appearing at the door. Peter stiffened slightly, peeking up at the woman. His eyes were red with tears before he looked away, giving an impression of a kicked puppy. Gwen scooted a little closer, gently rubbing his back before looking up at Natasha.

“Um, I think I saw stairs?” she asked, and the woman nodded.

“Go ahead,” Natasha replied, looking at Wanda. “I’ll talk to the boys.”

.

.

.

“Sir, Ms. Maximoff has left her apartment,” JARVIS announced.

“Displays on the kids and Maximoff,” Tony said, setting his torch down and lifting his mask up to look. A quick glance at the time told him it had just passed midnight as two holographic screens popped up, one on the two kids and the other on the common floor. Peter and Gwen were curled up together on the couch, watching a movie while the other display showed Rogers looking up from his sketchpad as Maximoff stalked in with a furious expression.

He absently rubbed his chest as he looked over Rogers, sadness, hurt and bit of shame burying what was left of the anger that still burned there. By this time Rogers should have been poking at him to go to bed, telling him the project could wait, and _no, if he wanted coffee, it’s going to be decaf go to sleep already, Tony._

“JARVIS, where are the others?” Tony asked, pulling off the mask and dropping it on the workbench.

“Sergeant Barnes is currently in his room,” JARVIS began. “Dr. Banner is currently in the lab. Mr. Barton is currently in his room and on a call. Ms. Potts has gone home for the evening. Ms. Romanoff and Ms. Hill are currently out of the building.”

Tony grunted in acknowledgement, watching as Gwen rubbed her temple with the heel of her hand and Peter glanced at her.

“ _I’m safe_ ,” Gwen said with a pained smile and Tony frowned slightly in confusion.

“ _They’re watching a movie_ ,” Maximoff announced, anger in her voice as she went straight to the kitchen. Mugs were placed heavily onto the counter, a pot slammed onto the burner and Tony winced. She muttered curses under her breath then looked up. “ _Peter is sorry about throwing you across the room, Steve. He… panicked._ ”

“ _Is he okay?_ ” Rogers asked worriedly. Maximoff poured milk and heavy cream into the pot then looked for the dark chocolate bar, viciously breaking the chocolate into pieces.

“ _You’re going to apologize to Captain Rogers tomorrow, okay?_ ” Gwen continued. “ _I know Wanda is going to tell him you apologized, but—_ ” She stopped as Peter reached out for the notepad, scribbling something.

“ _He was sleeping_ ,” Maximoff stated quietly. Those three words caused a sudden awful void in Tony’s gut, and judging by the expression on Rogers’s face, he was feeling the exact same thing. “Gwen thought their hiding spot was safe and-and she went to get food.” Maximoff wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and sniffled.

“Son of a bitch,” Tony growled, getting up from his seat and began to pace. “Son of a _bitch!_ ”

“ _Don’t tell me_ ,” Rogers said softly, clenching his fist. Maximoff looked away, dropping the chocolate into the steaming milk and whisking. A cup of sugar followed by a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of instant coffee.

“ _No, they wouldn’t do that_ ,” Gwen said, pulling Tony’s attention towards them. “ _I-I think they get it, get trauma and all. I mean, no, Peter, they wouldn’t kick you out._ ”

“God, why the hell would he _think_ that?” Tony voiced angrily, stopping to gesture at the display. “No fucking way would we do that! JARVIS, let’s start a facial scan for Peter and Gwen, going back to March. I want to find those sick fucks.”

“Of course, Sir.”

“ _He fought back_ ,” Maximoff continued as she whisked the chocolate, “ _but he’s, he’s not a fighter, Steve, and he didn’t want to-to hurt them. God, he didn’t want to hurt them even when they were going to hurt_ him _. Thank god Gwen came back and fought them off, but…. But…_ ” Maximoff stopped, wiping her eyes again as she took a deep breath, sniffling a bit.

Tony slammed a fist onto the workbench, anger coursing through his veins. He wanted to punch something so bad because those sick fucks were the reason why Peter couldn’t trust them.

“ _Tony’s not him_ ,” Gwen said softly, pulling Tony’s attention back to the kids. “ _You know that, right? Hell, you were just so giddy when you told me how Tony Stark saved you._ ” Tony blinked in surprise, barely hearing Maximoff and Rogers still talking in the background. When in the hell did he save Peter?

“And-and, come on, you raved about Dr. Banner. You just met him, you know he’s. He’s nothing like. Like.” Gwen stopped with a choke and Tony winced as he recognized the onset of an emotional breakdown. Peter sat up to pull Gwen into a hug, and Tony rubbed his face when he heard Gwen’s soft cries.

“ _JARVIS, would you let Tony know to replace the counter?_ ” Rogers asked, pulling Tony’s attention back and he cringed at the sight of the broken counter-top. 

“ _Of course, Captain Rogers._ ” Tony sighed.

“JARVIS, let’s get that countertop replaced,” Tony started, rubbing the bridge of his nose in exasperation, “and pull up some school tests for the kids. Clint’s right, they could use some normalcy, and they shouldn’t fall back due to no school.”

“Of course, Sir. Might I suggest having Mr. Parker work on a placement test,” JARVIS said.

“Placement test?” Tony blinked at that.

“Mr. Parker was placed number one overall in his previous school, excluding physical activities,” JARVIS said. “As I said before, Mr. Parker excelled in both math and science, and both his teachers in those subjects have recommended he be placed in a higher grade.

“As for Ms. Stacy, she is within the margin of her peers but scored exceptionally high in languages and the arts, specifically music,” JARVIS continued. “I believe she would enjoy playing the piano on floor 87.” Tony twitched.

The piano had been his mother’s. He wasn’t sure he’d like the idea of someone other than his mother playing it, but this might be a good thing for Gwen.

“I. Yeah, uh, good idea, J,” Tony stammered out, a hand to his mouth.

“Sir?”

“Don’t worry about it, JARVIS,” Tony said, getting back onto his seat. He put on the mask and lit up the torch once more. 

.

.

.

The moment Sam entered the common room, he stopped in surprise. There were two teenagers, one at the kitchen counter and one at the dining table, and both were working on tablets.

“What’s going on?” Sam asked slowly, catching everybody’s attention. “Who had kids? Tony, Steve, are they yours?”

“No, they are not mine or Rogers,” Tony said with a scowl as Wanda and Clint laughed, Steve rolling his eyes but looking amused. Peter blushed and shook his head as Gwen squinted at Sam. “You took your sweet ass time getting here, Wilson.” Sam pointed to the three boxes in his hand.

“Doughnuts,” he answered. Tony paused.

“Okay, yeah, you’re forgiven, give it.” Sam rolled his eyes but handed the boxes over. Steve, Wanda and Clint meandered over, Steve pulling Sam in for a hug which he returned followed by a hug with Wanda. Clint waved as he joined Tony at the kitchen counter with the doughnuts, and Sam turned his attention back to the kids.

“So. Introduce me,” Sam said.

“This is Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy,” Steve said, nodding to the two teens. “Guys, this is Sam Wilson, aka the Falcon.” Peter gave a small smile and a wave as Gwen grinned at Sam.

“Give them, what, another thirty minutes?” Tony added, opening the boxes and eyeing the doughnuts, most likely deciding which one to eat first. “Almost done with their tests.”

“Tests?”

“They haven’t been to school for about half a year,” Clint replied, snatching one doughnut up and earning a glare from Tony. Wanda snuck in between them, grabbing one of the boxes and some napkins to share with the teens.

“Come on, let’s get you settled,” Steve said and Sam nodded, following after the captain back into the elevator. The moment the doors closed, Steve let out a weary sigh.

“So?” Sam started. Steve rubbed his face with his hand.

“Long story short,” he started, “we got two traumatized enhanced kids being chased by HYDRA, the Maggia and a possible unknown third-party.”

“Well. Shit,” Sam said after a moment. “And when you say traumatized…”

“Gwen lost her dad,” Steve said as the door opened. They both stepped out and walked towards the guestroom. “Execution. We think it was the Maggia.”

“ _Shit._ ”

“And Peter.” Steve let out another sigh, sadness crossing his face. “He witnessed his uncle’s death, and a few days later his aunt was killed. Worse, we think… We think he may have been assaulted.”

“Assaulted?” One look at Steve’s pinched expression was enough. “What the hell?”

“Tony’s looking into it, trying to pinpoint the details.” Sam nodded as he dropped off his bag in the room then turned to look at Steve, crossing his arms.

“Not sure how much help I can be,” he said slowly. “I’m going to need to talk to them, one-on-one, see where their head-space’s at.”

“Yeah, makes sense, but, uh.” Steve grimaced. “Gwen should be fine, but Peter… Peter’s cautious around men.”

“He seemed okay— oh. Gwen and Wanda were there.” Sam hummed. “If he’s okay with Nat, she can stay.”

“Yeah, he seems fine with Nat and Pepper.” There was a pause and Sam raised an eyebrow. “He’s not so keen with Maria, and apparently it took him a while to warm up to Wanda. We think he may be fine with Bruce? Not going to lie but for a moment, he looked like a kid in a candy store the moment he saw Bruce. I am hoping that Peter will get comfortable with Clint during his sign language lessons.”

“Wait, sign language? Peter’s mute?”

“Ah. Yeah, uh, very recently,” Steve said then shrugged. “Bruce had a thought it could be selective mutism, but Peter can’t even talk to Gwen, so we’re not sure.”

“Being mute as a way to cope? I don’t know…” Sam trailed off with a frown. Some of the things Steve was saying weren’t adding up. “Right. Safe places for the kids to talk. Any ideas? JARVIS?”

“I would suggest the 87th floor for Ms. Stacy,” JARVIS said. “Based on her school records and social media presence, she enjoys music. Sir has a piano there.”

“We have a piano?” Sam blinked as Steve nodded. “Okay, good to know.”

“As for Mr. Parker, perhaps either his room on Ms. Maximoff’s floor or the common floor,” JARVIS continued.

“Okay, that’s a good of a plan as any. Mind letting the others know to clear the floor when I talk to Peter, Steve?” Sam asked. “I’ll text Nat about her joining in the session.”

“Sure.” Steve nodded and left. Sam sighed, hands on his hips and looking down at the ground for a moment. He wasn’t sure what he was getting into, but Sam hoped he could help.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “So? What are we looking at?”
> 
> “Two traumatized kids,” Sam answered, a smile curling up as Tony glared at him then sighed, rubbing his face. “It’s… it’s not good, guys.”
> 
> “Lay it on us, Sam, we can take it,” Clint said. Sam crossed his arms, looking down as he collected his thought, formulated how to talk to the group.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case it reads weird story-wise, I updated the previous chapters with some additional Tony/Steve elements - originally I wasn't going to put in any other pairings aside from Bruce/Natasha, but somehow these two crept in. ^^;

Sam talked to Gwen first after lunch. At first, she was nervous at the thought of leaving Peter alone, but her eyes shone when they stepped onto the 87th floor and she spotted the baby grand. In between talking about music and Gwen impressing Sam with how she could play a tune after listening to it once, Sam had a baseline read on her.

“You shrinking me?” Gwen asked, squinting at him.

“Nah, that’s for the professionals,” he replied easily. “I’m not paid enough to shrink people, and I work with a bunch of super-heroes, no way in hell am I even going to touch that.” Gwen giggled at that then went quiet.

“Do you get over it?” she asked softly. “Wh-when innocent people die in front of you?”

“No. No one does,” Sam replied quietly. “Bruce and Nat? They meditate, do yoga and stuff. Clint hits the shooting range. Steve breaks all of the punching bags or bakes. Tony? He builds better armor and toys for us.”

“And you?”

“Me, I talk.” He shifted slightly. “I work with vets, we’ve all seen awful things in combat, lost a lot of good friends. For me, talking helps, and sometimes it helps others who have had the same experience.” Gwen looked down, wringing her hands as she thought. Sam sat there patiently, watching her take a few deep breaths, jaw setting.

“I saw my dad die,” Gwen admitted and the confession broke Sam’s heart. “Watched the guy pull the trigger. Peter was there too, and-and we didn’t stop it. We could have saved my dad, we have the power to do that, but-but—"

“Hey, hey, no,” Sam interrupted, placing a hand on Gwen shoulder. “No, it’s not your fault. You’re just kids, it’s okay to be scared.”

“But we have powers!” Gwen argued, looking up as tears spilled out. “Captain America has powers and-and he would have stopped it.”

“Steve also had military training,” Sam replied, “and you don’t need to have powers to stop the bad guys. Just look at Nat or and Clint.”

“Nat is pretty bad-ass,” Gwen said with a watery giggle.

“Scares all the boys here,” Sam agreed with a chuckle then sobered. “But, kid. Gwen, you have to understand, your dad? It wasn’t your fault.” Gwen looked down.

“But I can’t help it,” she whispered.

.

.

When Steve had mentioned Peter’s caution of men, Sam had assumed the kid would have run the moment he realized it was just him, Natasha and Sam on the common floor. Instead, he was a little pleased to see Peter warily sit down across the table. Natasha quietly put a kettle on the stove, preparing tea and snacks for them.

“My knowledge of sign language only involves the words _‘apple’_ and _‘I love you’_ ,” Sam started drily as he slid the tablet over to Peter, “so I hope you don’t mind typing. Tony’s got it programmed to read out your answer when you hit done.” Peter nodded, gingerly taking the tablet.

“I just want you to know, I’m not a professional psychologist,” Sam continued. “I’m just a counselor, working with the vets down in D.C. We typically just talk, and I’m not expecting you to tell me everything.” Peter nodded again, biting on his lower lip.

“So. Let’s start with Bruce Banner,” Sam said, remembering what Steve had mentioned before. He watched as Peter lit up and began typing away. It turned out Peter was a huge fan of Bruce’s scientific achievements, not because of the Hulk, and a quick glance at Natasha told Sam that she was amused. 

“I can see you’re a science fan,” Sam said with a chuckle when Peter finally stopped typing. “I bet you can’t wait to check out Bruce’s lab.” Peter nodded enthusiastically at that.

“Can you tell me why you’re not as comfortable with Tony then?” Peter froze and Sam tilted his head. “He’s also a science guy, you know. Hell, he’d like to remind everybody that he’s the number one science genius, which is awfully forward of him.”

“I can think of a few people who would object to his self-proclaim genius,” Natasha hummed, drawing a faint smile from Peter and a chuckle from Sam. Peter looked down at the table, biting his lower lip as his fingers twitched over the tablet.

“ _I don’t know how to feel about Mr. Stark_ ,” Peter typed out slowly. “ _He saved my life when I was nine-years old, at the Expo._ ”

“When Hammer was showing off the drones?” Natasha asked, leaning forward slightly. Peter nodded.

“ _I was stupid_ ,” he wrote with an embarrassed expression. “ _I was wearing an Iron Man mask and gloves, and I think the drone thought I was Iron Man. Mr. Stark showed up and blasted it, and then told me ‘Nice job, kid.’_ ” Natasha nodded as Sam slammed down the urge to freak out at the knowledge that nine-year-old Peter had nearly been killed.

“ _And I’ve read his engineering articles_ ,” Peter continued, “ _and they’re so innovative, I’ve tested the theory out at home._ ” He stopped, giving Sam and Natasha another embarrassed look.

“ _Sorry_ ,” he wrote then paused. “ _He looks like him._ ”

“Who?” Sam prompted and Peter wilted slightly.

“ _The guy who killed my uncle._ ” 

Oh. Oh no.

Sam mentally grimacing, sharing a look with Natasha. Tony already had a huge guilt complex, just the idea that he looked like the guy who killed Peter’s uncle was going to hit him hard.

“ _It’s why I deserved it_ ,” Peter typed out slowly, sniffling a bit. It took a moment for Sam to understand, and he sat up, anger gripping his heart.

“No, _no_ , do _not_ think that,” he admonished, watching as Peter looked up at his with red-rimmed eyes.

“ _But everything’s my fault_ ,” Peter typed out between sniffles, a hand wiping his eyes. “ _Uncle Ben, Aunt May, Captain Stacy, Gwen. I have powers, but I couldn’t help._ ”

“You’re just a child,” Natasha said quietly. “Just like Gwen.” Peter sniffled and Sam grabbed the tissue box, sliding it over to the kid. The teen snatched up a tissue, blowing and wiping his nose with a sniffle.

“ _Sometimes I wished my mom and dad had stayed in Sokovia, adopted the kids_ ,” Peter typed slowly. “ _Then none of this would have happened._ ”

“Sokovia?” Natasha asked curiously. Peter nodded.

“ _Before I was born, mom and dad were working in Sokovia_ ,” he typed out. “ _Helping Doctors Without Borders. Ben and May used to tell me I could have had a big sister and brother if the UN hadn’t rushed them out._ ”

“A big sister and brother?” Sam probed, his thoughts suddenly turning towards the one Sokovian living in the Tower.

“ _Twins_ ,” Peter replied with a small smile. “ _They named me after the brother._ ”

.

.

.

“Hey, Sam.” Sam turned to see Steve heading towards him, a couple bottle of beers in his hand. He handed on over to Sam, and Sam popped the top, taking a swig of the cold brew.

“Thanks, man, I needed that,” Sam said with a sigh before turning to look out at the city. The sun was setting, a red glow over the city as dark blue crept along. “It’s been a long day.”

“Sorry.” Sam shook his head as Steve moved up next to him, taking a sip of his beer.

“Nah, Steve, it’s a good thing. Just… just have to have figure out how to report it all.” He took another swig from the bottle, leaning against the railing. “I get the feeling you’re all not going to like it.”

“We already figured that.” Sam hummed, turning to lean back against the railing. He watched as Clint and Peter signed at each other, the archer correcting Peter on some of the gestures. Wanda and Gwen were chatting over what looked like nail polish as Tony and Bruce cleaned up. Pepper was on the couch, fingers tapping away on her phone as Natasha, Bucky and Maria were in a corner of the room, deep in what was most likely work-related conversation.

His eyes slid back towards Peter. The boy’s body language told him he was still uncomfortable with Clint, but Peter was trying. It helped that Gwen would lean a bit, bumping her shoulder against Peter as though to tell him she was still there, and Pepper had shifted slightly closer to Peter, her knees right by his shoulder so he knew she was present.

“How’s it going between you and Tony?” Sam suddenly asked. Steve paused, blinking once before he took a drink.

“It’s.” Steve stopped, tilting his head slightly. “It’s fine.”

“Uh-huh.” Sam waited as Steve looked down at the ground. “It’s been almost over a year, he can’t possibly still be mad.”

“I’m best friend with the man that killed his parents,” Steve said drily, “and I didn’t tell him until said best friend randomly decided to show up at the Compound to turn himself in.”

“Have you tried talking to him?” Steve took another pull of his beer, looking in as Tony needled at Bruce, the scientist giving the billionaire an exasperated look.

“Not recently,” he admitted. “I’ve tried letting him cool off for a month after Bucky came back before talking to him, but I think he took it as that I didn’t care. I’ve tried apologizing to him, but all Tony wanted to do was yell at me to get out or he’d just leave the room. He’s shut me out, Sam. Hell, I think the only reason he’s being civil with me right now is because of the kids.”

Sam looked over to see Pepper had moved over on the couch for Tony, shifting in a way so she would be a buffer between Tony and Peter. Peter was leaning against her leg as he and Clint signed at each other. He could tell Peter was slowly getting use to Clint, leaning in slightly when the archer showed him the proper way of signing something.

“Keep at it, Steve, I’m sure Tony will talk to you,” Sam said encouragingly. Steve just grunted. “I’m hoping you got cookie dough in the freezer? This might be a long night.”

“I’ve got snickerdoodles set up,” Steve answered then smirked. “I think Bucky prepped up some chocolate and peanut butter chip cookies.”

“Oh, god, he’s going to make us all fat,” Sam groaned and Steve grinned. “Seriously, just because you two are training to be competitive eaters, that should not extend to the rest of us.” Steve laughed at that, and Sam noticed both the kids and Tony looking towards them. Pepper leaned in, whispering something to Tony, and Sam would have missed Peter’s reaction if not for Clint who raised an eyebrow at the teen.

He quietly filed that away.

It didn’t take long for both Peter and Gwen to start drooping, and Wanda walked with them back to her apartment to get them settled. Steve and Bucky threw some cookie dough into the oven as Bruce put a kettle on for tea and a pot of coffee.

“They’re asleep,” Wanda announced when she returned, heading into the kitchen just as the timer went off. “Food coma really hit them hard.” 

“I guess they’re feeling safe now,” Pepper noted with a small smile. Wanda plated up the cookies and Bruce brought over the coffee pot and tea.

“Thank fuck,” Tony grunted, eyeing the coffee pot. “Bruce, this better not be decaf.”

“Sorry,” Bruce replied, sounding anything but sorry. Tony scowled at him. “You’re hitting hour forty-three, you’re going to bed tonight.”

“Fucking doubt it,” Tony grumbled, pouring himself a cup of coffee and grabbing a cookie. He shot a look at Sam. “So? What are we looking at?”

“Two traumatized kids,” Sam answered, a smile curling up as Tony glared at him then sighed, rubbing his face. “It’s… it’s not good, guys.”

“Lay it on us, Sam, we can take it,” Clint said. Sam crossed his arms, looking down as he collected his thought, formulated how to talk to the group.

“You were right about Gwen, Tony,” Sam started, looking up at the billionaire. “She’s using Peter as a way to cope, but I think it’s also engrained in her to be protective. Her dad was a police captain, and she’s got a pretty strong sense of right and wrong.

“So it’s really hurting her that she couldn’t save her dad, especially since they have powers.” Sam sighed. “She and Peter, they were there when Captain Stacy was executed.” The room stilled at that before Clint let out a muttered curse, head dropping down.

“She saw who shot her dad?” Tony demanded. “Why didn’t she—shit, was it the Maggia?”

“She didn’t say,” Sam replied. “I don’t think she’s ready to say, even though she wants to. She’ll come around though, you guys are helping.

“Peter, on the other hand.” He grimaced and shot an apologetic look towards Bucky. “We’re going to have to treat him sort of like Barnes during his twitchy phase. No touching Peter when he’s asleep. Call out to him and let him wake up on his own. Nat, Wanda, Pepper, at least one of you should stay with him when he’s in the room with us and Gwen’s not there. Big guys like Steve and Bucky, and pushy guys like Tony scare him.” 

Sam rubbed his face with a hand.

“I’m sure I don’t have to explain why that’s the case.”

“I am going to fucking _incinerate_ the balls of _every single fucking pedo_ that did this to him,” Tony growled, his expression dark as Pepper covered her mouth with a horrified expression.

“And I’m not going to stop you,” Sam agreed. “Peter doesn’t have a problem with most women, but you’re right, there’s something with brunettes, in particular long-haired brunettes. I get a feeling there’s a story there, but he’s not comfortable sharing it. Sorry, Maria.”

Maria merely shrugged, though he could see a flash of curiosity in her eyes.

“So what do we do?” Steve asked quietly.

“Having Peter get use to Clint with the ASL lessons is a great idea,” Sam replied. “It’ll take some time, but I think sooner or later he’ll start opening up to you, Clint.” The archer nodded, looking a bit relieved at that.

“And, uh, Bruce, you mind if the kid comes down to your lab?” Sam turned his head slightly to look at the doctor. “He’s a huge fan of yours. Man, the moment I asked him about you, he was talking all about bio-chemistry and physics and whatever science thing you do. He said he had a copy of your college research paper.”

“Uh, wow, um, okay,” Bruce replied, blinking in surprise. Sam smiled a bit – most people only saw the Hulk when it came to Bruce, so for a kid to be seeing the scientist instead was a pleasant surprise.

“Just let him hang with you at the lab, maybe have him help out with an experiment if you’re okay with it,” Sam said then looked at Tony. “Peter looks up to you too, Tony, he’s just… trying.”

“You look like his uncle’s killer,” Natasha said, and Sam scowled at her as Tony’s eyes went wide, a look of horror crossing his face. “How, he hasn’t quite explained, but he honestly is trying. You saved him at the Expo, after all.”

“Uh, wait? What?”

“Remember the kid wearing the Iron Man mask?” Tony stiffened.

“Holy shit, that was _him?_ ” Tony hissed. “Jesus fucking _Christ_ , Hammer’s shitty drones nearly fucking _killed him!_ ” He scrubbed his face with a hand, taking a few steps away.

“Which brings me to the next part,” Sam quickly jumped in. “Nat, Clint, I want you two to teach the kids self-defense. I’d like either Steve or Bucky there too, just to help out with the strength part.”

“Sure,” Steve replied while Bucky nodded.

“Why self-defense class?” Wanda asked. “They’re perfectly safe in the Tower.” Sam grimaced and rubbed his face, sharing a look with Natasha before glancing over at Bruce.

“You might want to step out, Bruce,” he said slowly. The doctor shook his head. “Okay, you might want to get ready to go down to the Hulk-room then.”

“I do _not_ like what is coming out of your mouth,” Tony said, turning to squint at Sam. Sam took a breath.

“He… Peter thinks he deserved it,” Sam said. “The, uh, the assault.” The silence cut through the room like a knife.

“What,” Tony said, his voice flat.

“Peter feels guilty because he couldn’t save his uncle, aunt and Captain Stacy,” Sam began to explain, “and he pulled Gwen into his problems. I think there was more that happened between the time they ran and now, but Peter, he thinks he deserves to be punished.”

“What the fuck?” Clint said, his expression thunderous. “ _What the fuck?!_ ” The archer was on his feet, striding slightly away to pace. Bucky was also up and away, arms crossed and glaring out the balcony window as Tony swore, looking away. Red wisps flashed in Wanda’s eyes before she blinked them away, taking a deep breath.

Pepper covered half her face with her hands, eyes shining with tears while Maria looked away, a hand at her mouth as she bit at her thumb. Bruce leaned forward, hands clasped together as he bowed his head. Sam gave the scientist a wary look, watching as Natasha leaned against him, her hand sliding over his.

“You want us to show Peter that he deserves better,” Steve said quietly.

“Both of them, yeah,” Sam replied, meeting Steve’s eyes. “Because they both feel like they should be doing something with their powers, and if that means defending each other, so be it.”

“I’m in,” Natasha said with a nod.

“Fuck yeah, I’m in,” Clint added.

“Good.” Sam hummed before turning his attention to Wanda. “By the way, Peter said something interesting. Do you know the Parkers? Apparently, they were working for Doctors Without Borders during the war in Sokovia.”

“The Parkers?” Wanda blinked at the change in subject, a frown on her face. “Um, I’m not sure.”

“Maybe a picture would help?” Most of the team gave him a curious look, Natasha just tilting her head for Wanda’s response. “Peter said his parents had wanted to adopt a couple of kids before the UN pulled them out. They named him after the brother.” Wanda blinked again, sitting up slightly as Tony began to tap on his tablet.

“And here is Richard and Mary Parker,” Tony said, displaying holographic portraits of the two. Wanda was instantly on her feet, eyes wide in surprise and pointing at the pictures.

“That’s Ricky and Maria!” Wanda blurted out in shock.

“Well, holy shit,” Sam said faintly.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Huh,” Bruce hummed. “It’s not a variation of the Serum.”
> 
> “What?” Tony put the wrench down and rolled his seat over to Bruce as he pulled up a display of one of the kid’s DNA. “It looks like the Serum.”
> 
> “No, see there?” The display zoomed in and Tony frowned. “That’s not human DNA.”

Peter wasn’t sure why but when he saw Sam in the morning, he had the sudden realization that he was going to be safe around the man. He couldn’t help but frown slightly at the thought as he stumbled after Gwen and took a seat at the island, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as Gwen cheerfully greeted Sam, Captain America and Hawkeye.

“We didn’t see Wanda this morning,” Gwen said slowly as Sam set down two glasses of orange juice before them.

“Bucky, Natasha and Wanda had a thing,” Captain America replied as Hawkeye pulled up a seat next to Peter. Peter flinched slightly then grimaced, annoyed at himself before he turned towards the archer.

“Sorry,” he signed and Hawkeye shook his head, throwing him a smile.

“They’ll be back around noon,” Captain America continued, turning to give them each a plate of waffles. Gwen picked up a waffle, nibbling on it thoughtfully.

“Are they looking into the Maggia?” she asked and Peter looked up at that. Captain America shrugged in response, turning back to the waffle-maker.

“Yes and no. Just having them chase down a few leads,” Tony Stark answered as he stepped out of the elevator. Captain America pulled a mug out of the cabinet and poured a cup of coffee, sliding it next to the billionaire. Tony Stark immediately picked it up and gulped down half of the coffee, and Peter winced, glancing at Hawkeye who just shrugged then at Sam who shrugged as well.

“Yeah, I think that’s his super-power,” Sam said with a grin. Peter smiled, shoulders shaking in silent laughter as Gwen snickered. Tony Stark rolled his eyes, sticking his cup out at Captain America, and the super-soldier sighed as he topped off Tony Stark’s coffee.

“Just don’t worry so much, kids, Barnes and Romanoff know what they’re doing, and Maximoff needs the experience,” Tony Stark said, circling around to lean against the island next to Gwen. “Rogers, waffle me.” Captain America sighed again but passed a plate over.

Peter couldn’t help but look over at Tony Stark as he munched on his waffle. It was strange how the man called some of the Avengers by their last names and others by their first. His eyes trailed over to Sam who met them and gave a small shrug.

“I was thinking we can teach you some self-defense moves,” Captain America started, “if that’s okay wi—”

“Yes!” Gwen immediately replied, sitting up and giving Captain America a determined look. “I am _absolutely_ for that. Peter, you too.” Peter nodded slowly then nervously looked at Hawkeye.

“Sam come too?” Peter signed. Hawkeye blinked in surprise, straightening slightly. The sudden move caused the other Avengers and Gwen to look over at them.

“Uh, yeah, um, hey, Sam, you want to come along?” Hawkeye asked, turning to look. Peter heard a sharp breath from Gwen as Sam blinked.

“Sure, got nothing else to do today,” Sam replied and sipped his coffee.

.

.

.

“Are you jealous?” Bruce asked as he stared at the computer screen, glancing down once in a while to type something.

“No,” Tony replied quickly. Bruce turned to give Tony a look. “Yes.”

“Hm.” Bruce returned to staring at the screen.

“I mean, Sam’s only been here for half a day, and Peter’s already fine with him? How?” Tony asked, fidgeting with a wrench.

“Probably because Peter poured his heart to him yesterday,” Bruce murmured, frowning slightly. He typed something. “And Sam doesn’t look intimidating like the rest of you.”

“I am not intimidating at all,” Tony argued. Bruce paused to give him a look again and Tony deflated. “Okay, _maybe_ I come off as intimidating.” Bruce snorted at that then frowned at the screen.

“Huh,” Bruce hummed. “It’s not a variation of the Serum.”

“What?” Tony put the wrench down and rolled his seat over to Bruce as he pulled up a display of one of the kid’s DNA. “It looks like the Serum.”

“No, see there?” The display zoomed in and Tony frowned. “That’s not human DNA.”

“Not—wait, what the fuck?” Tony gave Bruce a sharp look.

“Sir, Captain Rogers has requested you and Dr. Banner to view the monitor,” JARVIS interrupted.

“Huh? Uh, yeah, sure?”

.

.

“We’ll start simple,” Captain America said as he led them into the gym. Peter gaped at the room, taking in the punching bags, weights and what looked like a fighting ring in the middle. Honestly, he thought the gym and training rooms would have been at the Compound. “First, I want to see your abilities.”

“What does that mean?” Gwen asked warily.

“We already know you have enhanced healing,” Captain America explained. “Tony thinks whatever you were exposed to is similar to the Serum so I’m assuming enhanced strength and stamina.”

“A building fell on them once,” Hawkeye reminded, earning a sharp look from Sam, “so enhanced durability?” Gwen and Peter shared a look then Peter mimed picking up something.

“Oh yeah,” Gwen said then looked at the other. “Peter picked up the building.” The three adults all blinked and Peter shrugged.

“Building fall, we stuck,” he signed. “I.” Peter hesitated then mimed the picking up gesture again.

“You picked up the building,” Hawkeye said slowly, signing it out for Peter. “The building that fell on top of you two. Kid, that has to be over a thousand ton.” Peter just shrugged again and the adults all exchanged a look.

“Anything else?” Captain America asked, and this time Peter and Gwen shared a look before walking over to a wall. 

Then they walked up the wall.

“Well, fuck me sideways and into Sunday morning,” Hawkeye murmured, eyes wide as Gwen and Peter stopped midway and looked down at them. “That’s, uh, that’s new. And weird. And fucking _awesome._ ”

“JARVIS, are you recording this?” Captain America asked in awe. “Actually, no, have Bruce and Tony see this right now.” There was a moment of silence.

“ _What the fuck, why are the kids on my wall?!_ ” Tony Stark half-shouted through the intercom. “ _Rogers, Barton, did you put glue on their feet or something?_ ”

“I didn’t bring the superglue!” Hawkeye shouted. Gwen giggled and Peter laughed silently then they ran around the room, still on the wall. They even ran across the windows, putting shoe and hand prints at the very top before Gwen ran up to the ceiling. She placed a hand on the ceiling then dropped, her hand keeping her from falling.

“Holy fuck,” Tony Stark voiced as he and Dr. Banner entered the room, staring up at them. Peter stood on the ceiling, upside down and waved with a grin. “ _Holy fuck._ ” They quickly clambered down onto the floor, Gwen grinning almost proudly while Peter looked down at his feet, looking up at the adults from under his eyelash.

“We’ve got one other trick up our sleeves, but, um, not sure if it’s going to work,” Gwen added with a shrug then her voice lowered. “It wasn’t working so good when Peter got shot.”

“Alert powers,” Peter signed out to Hawkeye.

“Not sure I understand that,” Sam said with a frown. Gwen hummed.

“I think the best explanation is, um.” She paused, frowning slightly. “Danger sense? Like, we can sense when something bad is about to happen to us, and we can usually dodge it.” Dr. Banner and Tony Stark exchanged a quick look then looked at Hawkeye.

“What?” the archer asked warily.

“Good timing, I just finished looking over your bow,” Tony Stark said nonchalantly. Peter gave Tony Stark a puzzled look as Captain America stepped forward.

“Ton—Stark, no,” Captain America quickly said.

“Nerf arrows, it’ll be fine,” Tony Stark said, waving a dismissive hand. “I want to see this danger sense thing in action, and besides, first rule of combat is don’t get hit.”

“Wasn’t there something on the Internet about Hawkeye never missing a shot?” Gwen whispered, leaning over to Peter. Peter nodded slowly, suddenly feeling very worried.

.

.

.

“They’re asleep,” Sam announced quietly, looking up as Wanda, Natasha and Bucky entered the common floor. Wanda paused while the other two continued on, their steps suddenly silent as they headed into the kitchen. “There’s pizza in the oven, more in the fridge.”

“Thank fuck, I’m starving,” Bucky mumbled as he opened the oven and pulled the pizza out. He put it on the counter, and pulled out the pizza in the fridge, putting it in the oven to warm up. Wanda quietly crossed over to join them while Natasha retrieved plates for the three of them. Sam put down his book and silently got up from his seat, heading over to the kitchen to take a seat as the three began to eat.

“How were the leads?” Sam asked.

“Interesting,” Natasha murmured. “The ones who had attempted to hurt Peter before, they’re all dead.” Sam blinked, straightening slightly and shooting a quick glance over his shoulder to make sure the two teens were still asleep.

“It wasn’t Tony, was it?” he asked half-seriously. Natasha smirked while Bucky snorted and Wanda shook with silent laughter.

“No.” Natasha hummed. “Suicide.”

“Suic—wait, _all of them?_ ”

“We’ll talk about it later,” Natasha quickly ended it and Sam glanced over at the sofa. Peter was looking blearily at them, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. A warm smile lighted up on Peter’s face and he tugged the blanket over Gwen before padding over to the group, waving hello then signed something.

“Yes, we’re back from our missions,” Natasha replied aloud with a faint smile, signing her answer. “Did you and Gwen kick Steve and Clint’s butts?” Peter blushed and shook his head with a pout, causing Natasha to chuckle.

“I’ll teach you two a couple of tricks tomorrow,” Natasha said, her smile turning into a smirk then her head cocked. “Bucky can help, if you’re okay.” Peter hesitated, eyes darting over to the assassin and Sam saw the boy barely suppress a flinch when Bucky glanced over.

“Maybe another time,” Sam said. Natasha nodded as Bucky looked away, Wanda leaning to bump her shoulder against him. Peter immediately had a guilty look, and Sam turned towards him, catching Peter’s attention. “It’s okay, Peter. Baby steps.”

Peter look down, fidgeting a bit before he nodded. Wanda waved him over, pulling out a seat next to her, and with another fidget, he moved to sit down next to her. Sam hid a smile – already he could see Wanda attempting to step up as big sister, even if she had just found out about Peter’s relation last night. She noticed Sam and made a face at him, earning a snicker from him and a puzzled look from Peter.

.

.

.

“What did you find out?” Tony asked as they settled down in the conference room. He pulled up a display to keep an eye on the two teens currently in the library, Gwen playing a tune on the piano while Peter read the latest science journal. “Get rid of the bodies yet? Do I need to wipe a few cameras?”

“Didn’t need to and no,” Natasha said, crossing her arms. “They were already dead.” Tony blinked, a frown on his face as he looked between her, Bucky and Wanda.

“All of them,” Bucky confirmed. “Talking about the four more recent ones? One ate a bullet, another decided he could fly and jumped off the roof of an 18-story apartment. Third fella also decided to take flight but at a construction zone.” Bucky paused for a moment.

“Number four tortured himself before he died,” Natasha finished. This time everybody aside from Natasha, Bucky and Wanda frowned. “It was pretty gruesome.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Sam said slowly.

“It doesn’t, but the reports seem legit,” Maria said, pulling up displays.

“Do they have sheets?” Steve asked and Maria nodded, handing a tablet to the captain. He scrolled through them all, his frown deepening before looking up. “This doesn’t fit their profiles at all.”

“No,” Maria agreed then paused. “There could be outside influences.” Steve grimaced at that as Tony swore under his breath. SHIELD had been working on the sudden influx of powered individuals, the most famous one with the designation of Quake going on a vigilantism spree recently.

“What, we have a mind-controlling vigilante?” Sam asked. Clint shrank back slightly, most likely remembering his time as Loki’s minion.

“Maybe.” Maria crossed her arms. “Quake had destroyed the registry SHIELD and the ATCU compiled, which to be fair was a good idea after Lash, so I can’t be too sure.” Aside from Tony, Steve, Natasha and Clint, there was some looks of confusion around the group.

“Don’t worry about it,” Tony said, waving a hand to dismiss it then made a thoughtful sound. “If we do have a mind-controlling vigilante, maybe there were other cases. JARVIS, run their profile and see if there were any similar deaths.”

“Let’s narrow it down to Long Island City and Queens,” Steve added.

“Based on those parameters, there are zero matches, Captain Rogers,” JARVIS replied. Steve hummed, leaning back in his chair to rub his face.

“Might not just be Long Island City and Queens, Rogers,” Tony said. “JARVIS, same parameters but with all of New York.” The AI went quiet for a few minutes before replying.

“Based on the locations and not including the thirteen individuals, I’ve found similar deaths, three located in Harlem and five in Hell’s Kitchen,” JARVIS answered. The AI paused then continued. “However, if you removed the parameter of vigilantism, I have found eleven deaths in Harlem, twenty-seven in Hell’s Kitchen, thirty-two in lower Manhattan, and twenty-three in upper Manhattan.”

“Whoa, wait, what?” Clint sat up, leaning against the table. “Jesus, that’s a hell of a jump.”

“Indeed, Agent Barton,” JARVIS said. “The victims psychologically do not fit the profile of taking their own life.”

“JARVIS, see if there’s a common person in those deaths,” Tony said. “Our mind-controller had to have been there to pull those off.”

“Of course, Sir.”

“What did you learn about Peter and Gwen?” Maria asked, moving on to the next topic. Tony’s eyes drifted back to the display – Peter had joined Gwen at the piano and was slowly playing a duet with her.

“Medically-speaking, I suppose the best way is to compare them to Steve and Bucky,” Bruce started with a shrug. “Peter’s like Steve in that he’s got the better powers and immune system. Granted he’s not immune to poisons and diseases like Steve, but he is highly resistant. Gwen on the other hand, her power level is significantly lower than Peters, though she is more agile. She also doesn’t have the enhanced immune system, so she’s normal like the rest of us. Their alert system is also dif—”

“Wait, alert system?” Natasha interrupted. Bruce blinked owlishly at her for a moment before he seemed to realize that she hadn’t been there.

“Oh, right, yes.” He fumbled with his glasses, cleaning the lens before shoving them back on. “They have a danger sense, most likely from whatever they were exposed to. Peter’s is just a vague idea of danger, and he’ll instinctively know to duck or dodge. At the same time, Gwen knows exactly where the danger is, and still be fast enough to know if she needs to duck or dodge.”

“It’s not infallible though,” Tony added excitedly. “We had Clint shoot at them – with Nerf arrows, don’t get your panties in a bunch, people, I’m not that big of an asshole – and they’re pretty quick on their feet. Blindfolded and with Rogers, on the other hand, that’s where the biggest difference comes out.”

“Peter could mostly keep up,” Steve affirmed. “Gwen, not so much. Clint and I beaned her more often than Peter, but—”

“But, when she does dodge, she knew _exactly_ where it was coming from,” Tony interrupted, sounding excited. “Peter just knew to duck and dodge with a vague idea where the projectile was coming from, but Gwen with a blindfold? Like she can still see where Clint or Rogers were.”

“You still managed to hit Peter though,” Natasha said, tilting her head slightly. 

“Mostly Steve got him, but we have a theory on that,” Bruce said. “Every time Peter was hit, Gwen had been the target. We think it’s because he wasn’t the target that he was hit.”

“So, the bullet hole,” Bucky prompted.

“Was most likely aimed at Gwen, and Peter got in the way,” Bruce answered with a nod.

“Or,” Sam interrupted, raising a hand, “Peter knew and purposely got in the way.”

“Wait, what?” The two scientists looked at Sam with a confused frown.

“Peter freezes sometimes,” Sam explained. “JARVIS, you have video?”

“Of course, Mr. Wilson,” JARVIS replied and a display appeared, showing the video of Gwen and Peter avoiding Steve and Clint’s projectiles.

“There,” Natasha noted. “He stopped himself from getting in the way.”

“And there as well,” Steve added, rubbing his face. “Didn’t notice that at all.”

“I think he’s assuming Gwen could dodge those,” Clint said thoughtfully. “See? Just now, when he got hit? Steve threw that after she’d just dodged my shot. And there, he let himself get hit when I shot at her blind spot.”

“Well, there goes our theory,” Bruce grumped. “Never mind Peter mostly keeping up, he was _completely aware_ of everything.”

“But we were right about Gwen’s danger sense,” Tony pointed out, his eyes on the video. “The times Peter deliberately stopped or took the shot, she had no idea. Her danger sense isn’t reliable.” His attention suddenly shifted when he saw the two teens leaving the library and heading towards the elevator.

“Heads up, I think the kids are coming to find us,” he noted. “Anything else we should know?”

“The serum they were exposed to isn’t a variation of the Super-Soldier Serum,” Bruce said, leaning forward. “I found trace evidence of radiation and definite genetic mutation, specifically spider DNA.”

“Spider DNA?” Clint shuddered while Sam made a face. “So them walking up the wall—”

“—is because of the spider DNA,” Bruce replied with a nod. There were sharp looks from Natasha, Bucky and Wanda from that, “which is another thing. Peter can walk on the walls and ceiling, but Gwen has to concentrate on the wall-crawling and—sorry, I’m rambling, I’ll send you all the report.” Bruce paused, eyes flickering to the display of the kids.

“I think I have an idea who made their Serum.” The Avengers all sat up at that and Bruce got up from his seat, pulling up something on his tablet and sending it to show up as a holographic display.

“OsCorp?” Maria frowned. “Figures.”

“What’s OsCorp?” Steve asked.

“One of my competitors,” Tony said, “They tend to lean towards chemistry and robotics, but…” He trailed off, eyes widening.

“In the last few years, they’ve been focusing on genetics,” Bruce continued. “Some of the science journals they’ve been in had theoretical proposals on curing autism while the baby is still in utero to regenerating missing limbs. Again, still theoretical at this point.”

“Can genetics be used for war?” Steve asked slowly.

“Anything can be used for war, Rogers,” Tony replied darkly. “Target a certain gene, and you can wipe out an entire population with a virus keyed to that gene. Hell, Rogers, technically _you_ were created on a genetic level.” Steve grimaced, running a hand over his face.

“Ms. Maximoff, Mr. Wilson,” JARVIS interrupted. “Mr. Parker and Ms. Stacy are inquiring to your whereabouts.”

“We should break for now,” Tony grunted, getting up from his seat. “Maria, get us what you can about OsCorp. I’m going to see what I can find out about our mind-controller.” Maria nodded and left the room.

“Hey, Sam? Wanda?” The two looked up at Steve. “See if Peter and Gwen want to go out for dinner. I’m sure they would like to get out for some fresh air.”

“You sure?” Sam asked.

“Bring Clint and Natasha with you,” Steve amended. “Might be a good time to teach all these young folks how to get away from enemy combatants in an urban setting.” Sam snorted at that while Wanda rolled her eyes before leaving, the two spies trailing after them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please know that Gwen's powers aren't like the ones in the comic, but rather it's based on Spider-Woman (May Parker), thank you. :)


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You’re safe, Peter. You’re safe,” Tony said gently. There was a chirp and Tony glanced to his side to see DUM-E had rolled over, shifting side to side as though it was worried. “See? DUM-E’s here and he would be running away if it wasn’t safe.”
> 
> “No, I’m pretty sure he’d be rolling towards the danger with a fire extinguisher,” St—Rogers murmured.

Gwen was practically skipping as they headed out for dinner. She had been pretty sure that they would have been stuck in the Tower due to the Maggia – and apparently HYDRA? Really? – so when Sam and Wanda asked if they wanted to head out for dinner, it had been an instant yes from her.

Peter was a little reluctant but he had agreed when Clint and Natasha also showed up. That’s when they both got a crash-course on urban spying. Natasha gave them tips on how to blend into a crowd while Clint told them of ways to spot and lose a tail.

“You two scare me sometimes,” Sam announced as the two spies began pointing out what electronics could be used to build a make-shift incendiary device. “They’re kids, they do not need to know that.”

“Yeah, I mean, Peter knows how to make a bigger boom with the right chemicals,” Gwen said with a nod then giggled when Peter elbowed her, throwing an exasperated look at her. Clint chuckled as Sam shook his head and sighed.

“I hope you two like fish,” Wanda said. “Ever had poké?” The two teens shook their heads.

“Wanda’s current obsession is poké,” Clint added with a chuckle. “If you like sushi, you’ll like poké.”

As it turned out, Peter and Gwen both loved sushi, which led the four Avengers to watching in amusement as the two teens devoured four bowls of poké each. Afterwards they wandered over to Lady M Cake Boutique, picking up a couple of cakes, a bunch of eclairs and berry tarts for the others in the Tower.

They also picked up some raspberry chocolate bars, and ate those with coffee and tea as they watched the sun set in Bryant Park.

“Best day ever,” Gwen sighed out, earning chuckles from the group.

“Had enough being cooped up in the Tower?” Clint asked in amusement. “I mean, I guess being stuck in the Tower for three days can be torture.” Peter snorted, silently laughing as Gwen rolled her eyes.

“We’re teenagers, we hate sitting still,” Gwen said then hummed. “Actually, no, I hate sitting still, Peter’s fine with it.” This time Peter rolled his eyes but he didn’t deny it.

“Chemistry requires a lot of sitting still?” Sam prompted. Gwen and Peter shared a look before Peter pointed accusingly at her then motioning an explosion. She started to laugh as Peter mock-glared at her.

“I’m sensing a story there, but this might be something to save with the others,” Clint said with a grin.

“Oh, it’s a story, alright,” Gwen agreed. “Just know that it’s a good thing Peter was experimenting in plastic bottles, and some stains aren’t removable.” Sam and Clint laughed as Wanda giggled, Natasha snickering, and Peter laughed silently along. They threw out what the garbage and started back towards the Tower, Gwen chatting with Clint before turning to check on Peter.

Except Peter wasn’t there. 

Gwen could feel her heart in her throat, beating a mile a second as she looked around for him. Her danger sense wasn’t screaming, but it wasn’t like Peter to disappear.

“Guys? Where’s Peter?” she asked, voice trembling as panic began to set it. The four Avengers stiffened, looking around for Peter before they looked at each other.

“Stay here,” Natasha ordered, and she, Wanda and Clint disappeared into the crowd. Gwen started to follow, only for Sam to catch her arm.

“Whoa, hang on,” he said. “There’s a chance he’ll find us.” Gwen bounced on her feet, gnawing worriedly on a thumbnail as she scanned the streets for Peter. Even with the sun setting, there were still so many people on the streets, and she hoped to be able to see the familiar mess of brown hair.

Fifteen minutes later – at least that’s what Gwen thought, she didn’t have a cell to check, maybe she should ask Tony for a loaner, oh geez where the hell is Peter – Peter suddenly came barreling out of an alley, looking frantically around before spotting her. Gwen didn’t even get a chance to say anything when Peter threw himself at her, causing her to stumble back into Sam. The man held her steady, and that’s when Gwen realized Peter was shaking.

“Peter?” she asked worriedly. “Peter, are you okay?”

He looked up at her with terrified eyes, raised a hand to his throat and moved it down. She felt the blood drain from her face – _he_ had found Peter.

“Gwen?” Sam prompted, sounding worried. Gwen look up, her heart hammering in her chest as she tried to keep her breathing under control.

“C-can we go home?” she asked, her hands gripping at Peter. “Please? W-we need to go home.” She was still here, still in the present. 

She was still here.

Sam studied them, a frown on his face before he gave a sharp nod. He picked up his cell, calling the others as he ushered them towards the Tower.

.

.

.

Peter bolted upright in bed, mouth opened in a silent scream. He clutched at the blanket, breathing hard as he curled up, head against his knees and trying to get his breathing under control. Shakily he managed to roll out of bed and tottered into the bathroom. He stared at himself in the mirror, taking in his pale, sweaty face, his shaking shoulders and arms before turning on the faucet and splashing some water onto his face.

There was no way he was going to go back to sleep.

He gnawed on his thumb before exiting the bathroom and quietly left his room. He peeked into Gwen’s room, his eyes adjusting to the darkness as he listened to her breathing.

She was still here.

Wanda was also asleep, Peter listening to her breathing through the door of her room. It meant that she was safe like Gwen. Taking a breath Peter wandered back to his room but stared at his bed. He still wasn’t going to be able to go back to sleep, the adrenaline still rushing through his veins.

The man could hurt them. The man _would_ hurt them.

_Stop thinking like that, Peter._

With a deep breath Peter tried to pull his thought away before remembering that Dr. Banner had told him he was welcomed to come down to the lab. Peter pulled on a hoodie and snagged his tablet off the nightstand.

“ _JARVIS, is Dr. Banner in the lab?_ ” he typed out.

“No, Dr. Banner has retired for the night,” JARVIS replied quietly. Peter glanced at the time and sighed. Of course Dr. Banner would be asleep at two in the morning. “However, Sir is still awake and in the workshop. I believe you would be welcomed to visit him.”

Peter stilled. Tony Stark was still awake. Tony Stark would be okay with Peter in his workshop.

The fanboy inside of him was flipping out while his stomach hit the floor at the idea of being alone in the workshop with Tony Stark. Tony Stark wouldn’t hurt him, Peter knew, but the thought of being alone in the room without backup scared him.

“You would not be alone,” JARVIS said soothingly. “DUM-E, U and Butterfingers would be there.”

“ _Who?_ ” Peter typed out.

“Sir’s robots.” A display popped up to show the three robots rolling about the workshop as Tony Stark worked, hunched over the workbench. “You will be safe, Mr. Parker.”

Tony Stark had robot kids. Holy crap, Tony Stark built himself _robot kids._

_I want to meet them._

Mind made up, Peter exited his room and walked over to the elevator, JARVIS sending him down. The doors to the workshop opened, Tony Stark ignoring it as he muttered under his breath, working on what looked like an Iron Man chest piece. He didn’t seem to notice when the three robots rolled over to Peter, circling him with almost child-like curiosity.

Peter gave a small wave and smiled when all three of them wave back. One of them rolled up to him, and Peter shyly petted what he assumed would be the robot’s head.

“JARVIS, what’s Peter doing here?” Tony Stark asked and Peter jumped, looking up to see the billionaire staring owlishly at him in confusion. “He is here, right? You didn’t have someone spike my coffee, did you?”

“Mr. Parker is physically present, Sir,” JARVIS replied and Peter could feel his lips curling up slightly at the tart tone. “And U did not spike your coffee, Sir.”

“You had U give me _decaf_ ,” Tony Stark growled and Peter silently laughed then started when Tony Stark turned his attention back towards Peter.

“So. Apparently we’ve met before, back at the Expo,” Tony Stark said, swiveling left and right in his chair. “Nice to see you again, kid.” Peter blushed, looking down at his feet before one of the robots bumped into him. Absently he began petting it, earning a happy chirp from it.

“Couldn’t sleep?” Tony Stark asked, watching in bemusement. Peter shook his head, taking out his tablet.

“ _Bad dream_ ,” he typed out. Tony Stark nodded with a look of understanding.

“I get it,” he replied. “It’s why I’m usually down here working.” Tony Stark looked Peter over then gestured for Peter to approach.

“Want to see what I’m working on?”

.

.

.

Rogers arrived to the workshop with a cup of ambrosia in hand, pausing a moment before shifting his gaze to Peter asleep on the couch.

“Peter?” Rogers asked quietly as he placed the cup on the table. 

“Came down all by himself,” Tony said, sounding faint even to his ears as he reached out to take the cup. “Not going to lie, I thought he’d, you know, avoid me.” He took a gulp of coffee then looked up at Rogers, feeling more than a little bit of awe and definite amusement.

“Can’t believe he came down, all by himself by the way, because he thinks DUM-E, U and Butterfingers would watch his back,” Tony continued then let out a short laugh. “I’m fucking _Iron Man_ , and he thinks my bots can take me in a fight.”

Rogers tilted his head, turning to look back at Peter sleeping form. 

“I think he needed an excuse to see you,” the captain said slowly. Tony raised an eyebrow at that. “Think about it, you’re Iron Man and you saved his life almost five years ago. He’s read all the science journals that you’ve published articles in when you had time between being an Avenger and SI. He wants to see you and not the guy who hurt him.”

“Huh.” Tony chewed his bottom lip as he looked back at Peter.

“Maybe,” Rogers started thoughtfully. “Maybe you and Bruce should have Peter do some lab work. He’s smart and into science, and he’ll get use to you that way.” Tony nodded – it made sense, Peter was getting comfortable with Bruce, and Tony had been avoiding Bruce’s lab so Peter wouldn’t be scared. If Peter had been willing to come down to see him—

Wait.

“What about you?” Tony asked in confusion. Rogers had practically figured out a way to get Peter comfortable with most of the Avengers, barring himself, Barnes and Maria. The captain shrugged.

“Still figuring it out,” he admitted. “Did you find out what spooked Peter and Gwen?” Tony eyed Rogers for a moment, noting the change in topic, before answering.

“Not a clue,” Tony replied, pulling up displays as he drank his coffee. “Whoever spooked the kids, they never showed up on the security cameras. I’m thinking they had a way into one of the buildings, managed to bypass the outside cameras, and just strolled out like they were a customer or a resident.”

He swiveled in the chair for a moment before looking at Rogers.

“I hate to even suggest this, but how about we ask Maximoff?” Tony said slowly. Rogers frowned at that and Tony sighed. “I know, invasion of privacy and all that, but I think she could help.” The captain hummed, crossing his arms and looking down as he thought then looked back up.

“Get Peter’s permission first,” he said, “and talk to Wanda. If they both agree, I want Sam there.”

“Sam?”

“She’s going to be bringing up and also experiencing Peter’s memories, and it might upset them both,” Rogers replied.

“Damn. Makes sense,” Tony agreed. There was shifting on the couch and the two looked up to see Peter blearily looking at them. He signed a “good morning” to them as he yawned then rubbed his eyes.

“Good morning, Peter,” Rogers said with a smile. 

“Hey, kid, you okay?” Tony asked. Peter nodded, looking around before spotting the robots at their charging station. “Bed time for the bots.” Peter nodded again then squinted at them, and Tony could see the teen wanting to ask a question.

“Your tablet’s on the floor,” Rogers said helpfully. Peter blinked, looked down and scooped up the tablet then began to type.

“ _You’re not mad at each other anymore?_ ” Peter asked. They both stilled, and the teen looked between them for a moment before blushing. He signed an apology, pulling off the blanket to leave the workshop.

“I’m not mad at Tony,” Rogers suddenly said, and Tony turned to look at him. “I was ne—well, no, I _was_ mad at him for a bit, but I’m not mad at him anymore.”

Tony was outright staring at Rogers now.

_I blasted your boyfriend through two walls of the Compound then nearly took his head off in front of you and Maximoff before you hit me with your shield, how the fuck are you not mad at me anymore?!_

He realized that Peter and St—Rogers were looking at him now, and Tony looked away, taking another gulp of his coffee. A beat and the captain spoke again.

“Peter, we were thinking about letting Wanda take a look at your memories,” he stated. “We would—”

Peter backed away, shaking his head so violently that Tony thought his head would fall off. St—Rogers blinked, a faint frown on his face and that’s when he heard Peter’s erratic breathing. The captain made an aborted move, looked at Tony and tilted his head towards Peter. Tony quickly set his cup down, taking the few steps towards the teen.

“Peter, breath. In, one two three four, and out,” Tony ordered gently, his eyes meeting Peter’s. “Come on, in, one, two three four, and out.” Peter unsteadily reached out and Tony grabbed his hand, watching as Peter’s breathing evened out. Something in Tony’s chest loosened, the realization that Peter trusted him enough, and he held back the urge to just pull Peter into his arms for a hug.

“You’re safe, Peter. You’re safe,” Tony said gently. There was a chirp and Tony glanced to his side to see DUM-E had rolled over, shifting side to side as though it was worried. “See? DUM-E’s here and he would be running away if it wasn’t safe.”

“No, I’m pretty sure he’d be rolling towards the danger with a fire extinguisher,” St—Rogers murmured.

“You shut your dirty mouth, Cap,” Tony said. There was a startled silence from the captain and Tony realized he had just called St—Rogers by his nickname. He quickly pushed that aside, focusing on Peter. “You okay now, kid?”

Peter nodded, letting Tony lead him back to the couch. Tony knelt down before him, glancing down to see Peter’s hand still firmly clutching his own before giving Peter a reassuring smile. St—Rogers picked up the fallen tablet and placed it on the far-end of the couch, stepping a few steps back.

“Peter, we’re not going to force you to see Maximoff,” Tony said. “It was just a suggestion. Cap just worded it badly because he sucks at talking.”

“Hey,” St—Rogers protested the paused. “Actually, no, you’re not wrong about that.” Peter’s lips curve up at that, and Tony counted that as a small victory.

“So we won’t suggest it again,” Tony continued. “We just wanted to know who scared you yesterday.” The teen looked down, a hand clenching at the neck of his hoodie then raised his tablet.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Do you know of the Kilgrave Support Group?” Natasha asked. They saw him flinch and the man rubbed his face nervously before crossing his arms. “We’d like to talk to them.”
> 
> “What for?”
> 
> “A couple of kids got cau—”
> 
> “Kids?” the man interrupted then looked away. “No, can’t be. Can it?”

“You told Mr. Stark and Captain Rogers?” Gwen asked in surprise as she set out a couple plates for a snack. Peter cringed slightly then nodded. “Why?”

“ _They wanted to help_ ,” Peter replied then sighed. “ _And Captain America has puppy-dog eyes._ ” Gwen blinked, her face screwing up slightly.

“Okay, yeah, he does have puppy-dog eyes,” she finally agreed. “What’s going to happen now?” Peter shrugged in response, though he had some idea.

After telling Tony and Captain America about the man, they had sat him down and Captain America sketched out his face.

“What’s his name?” Tony had asked.

“ _Kill grave_ ,” he had written. “ _Maybe one word, like Kilgrave?_ ”

Gwen put a kettle on as Peter opened the fridge when the elevator doors opened. Wanda walked out with a bag, making a beeline right towards them.

“Hey, guys,” Wanda greeted, putting the bag down on the table and entering the kitchen. She opened a cabinet and grabbed a couple boxes of protein bars and sports drinks. “Steve, Bucky and I have a mission out of the country.”

“O-oh,” Gwen stammered out, eyes wide. “I, uh, is it going to be dangerous? Oh, shoot, that’s a dumb question. Um, how long is it going to take?”

“Honestly? I’m not sure,” Wanda replied, moving back to grab her bag. “It might be a few days, a week max. I’m just the muscle.” She smirked at that, causing both Gwen and Peter to laugh.

“Anyway, I just want to let you two know that I won’t be around and not to worry,” she continued, her eyes flicking towards Peter. He glanced down at his feet, embarrassed to know that Wanda knew he’d check on her and Gwen during the night.

“Ms. Maximoff, Captain Rogers, Sergeant Barnes and Agent Hill are waiting for you on the landing pad,” JARVIS announced. Wanda shoved the boxes and drinks into her bag and scurried towards the elevator.

“Everybody else is still in the building,” she called out, “and Pepper’s coming by tonight!” 

“Stay safe!” Gwen called out. Wanda stepped in the elevator, waving a goodbye before the doors closed. Gwen and Peter exchanged a look.

“Okay, cool,” Gwen said. “I’m still starving, did you find anything in the fridge?”

.

.

.

It annoyed Tony when T’Challa contacted St—Rogers, Barnes and Maximoff in for a mission. They were just making progress with Peter and Gwen when the mission came up, and he watched on the display as Maria joined the three on the Quinjet.

Whatever it was, it had to do with SHIELD if Maria was joining on the mission.

It was almost ten minutes after the Quinjet left when Tony got a hit.

“Sir, I have found subject Kilgrave from last night’s security footage,” JARVIS announced.

“Show me.” He got up from his seat, watching as Kilgrave sauntered out of the building, stopping a taxi driver getting out of his car. “He doesn’t look like me at all.”

“No, Sir, but I believe it is his body language and mannerism that is similar,” JARVIS noted. The man smiled at Kilgrave, opened the door of his taxi and drove off.

“Huh. He just talked to the driver and that’s it? And do I act that much like an asshole? Wait, don’t answer that, we already know that answer,” Tony grumbled. JARVIS remained thankfully quiet. “How is he doing the mind-control? Sound? Eye contact? He tapped the guy on the shoulder, possibly touch. You run his face through NYPD’s database?”

“Yes, Sir, but it will require some time,” JARVIS replied. “I have, however, found something of interest.” A display pulled up with a website proclaiming itself as the Kilgrave Support Group. Tony’s eyebrows shot up, and he began to scroll.

“Well, hell, didn’t expect there to be _survivors_ ,” he muttered, looking up the address. “J, where are the spy twins? Nowhere near the kids to hear?”

“Agent Romanoff and Agent Barton are currently in the gym, Sir.”

“Patch me in.” Tony looked back at Kilgrave on the screen. “Romanoff, Barton, need you to go to Harlem. I got a name from Peter, and apparently our spook Kilgrave left a string of survivors.”

“ _Survivors?_ ” Clint said. “ _That’s kind of fucked up._ ”

“No kidding. Sending you the address, see what you can find out.”

“ _Got it_ ,” Clint and Romanoff answered and closed the comms. Tony brought up another display, this time focusing on the kids. They had just finished eating – and Tony had to admit he was pleased by how healthy they were looking now – and Peter was drawing something on the tablet, showing it to Gwen.

“You should show this to Mr. Stark and Dr. Banner,” Gwen was saying. Peter shook his head and Tony tilted his head curiously before muting the display.

“JARVIS, call Cap,” Tony said. There was a pause.

“ _Tony_ ,” St—Rogers answered. “ _Find something?_ ” Tony rubbed his chest in irritation that his heart had skipped a beat when St—Rogers called him by his first name. He sat down in his chair, swiveling side-to-side.

“So, Kilgrave. He’s done a lot more than just have people kill themselves,” Tony drawled. “There’s a support group based in Harlem.”

“ _Support group? Was Kilgrave based there?_ ” the captain asked.

“Not sure,” Tony replied “Clint and Na—Romanoff’s going to check it out, let me know their deal. What’s His Cattiness want?”

“ _Missing vibranium shipment. His intel has it that neo-HYDRA may have gotten their hands on it._ ”

“Ah.” Now it made sense why it was Cap, Barnes, Maximoff and Maria on the mission. “Blow them up for me, would you?”

“ _Of course. We’ll make it nice and flashy, just for you. Think Wanda may have packed some fireworks._ ” Tony chuckled at that. “ _Did you find anything else on Kilgrave?_ ”

“Not yet, but he was indeed the one to spook Peter. Thanks for the sketch, by the way, it really helped JARVIS find him,” Tony said. He didn’t bother letting the captain know that he was also having JARVIS scan further back to find out when Peter and Gwen had met the man.

“Sir, Mr. Parker is requesting permission to come into the lab,” JARVIS announced.

“Gotta go, Cap,” Tony said, turning off the comms and turning around in his seat. “Let him in, J.” The doors opened and Peter peeked in, looking around before he spotted DUM-E trundling around. Tony suppressed the urge to laugh at the idea that DUM-E would protect Peter then beat back the sadness that filtered in at the idea that Peter needed the thought of DUM-E protecting him.

“What’s up, kid?” Tony asked. Peter shyly handed his tablet over to Tony, and he looked at it, eyebrows raising slightly at the design. He tapped through it, his eyebrows climbing up higher as he realized the kid had designed some sort of shooter. “Huh. What’s this for?”

Peter mimicked putting on the shooter and firing it. Tony tilted his head slightly, eyes narrowing.

“Oh no, no weapons,” he started and Peter quickly shook his head. He reached out and swiped on the tablet, revealing a formula. Tony studied it and hummed. “Huh. So, what’s this? I see hydrogen peroxide. Uh, you mind if I get Bruce in here?” Peter’s eyes widened and Tony let out a small laugh.

“That’s a yes if I ever saw one. JARVIS, get Bruce in here.”

“Of course, Sir,” JARVIS replied. DUM-E rolled up to Peter and chirped when Peter began to pet it. Tony felt a fondness grow in his chest, watching as Peter signed at DUM-E and his bot wave its hand in response. Bruce entered the lab after a few minutes, a smile curling on his lips as he spotted Peter and DUM-E ‘conversing’.

“What’s up, Tony?” Bruce asked. Peter looked up then turned shy as Tony waved Bruce over, shoving the tablet in his face. “Uh—huh. Huh. Interesting.”

“Chemistry’s not my forte, Bruce, what does it mean?” Tony asked.

“It’s glue,” Bruce started. Tony raised an eyebrow and looked at Peter. Peter shook his head, paused then nodded and paused again with a frustrated expression. Bruce handed the tablet back to Peter, and the teen began to type.

“ _The idea is to put the fluid into cartridges, and use the web-shooter to shoot it_ ,” Peter said. Bruce and Tony looked at Peter, and the teen swiped back to the gauntlet. He pointed at the button then at the palm of his hand, curling his middle and ring fingers down as though to push the button. Instantly Tony’s brain clicked and judging by Bruce’s expression, he also understood.

“And why do you want to make a web-shooter?” Tony asked, swiping the web-shooter schematics onto the holo-board. Peter turned his head, eyes wide and mouth opened in awe, and Tony motioned him to follow. He grabbed the holo-version of the gauntlet, blowing it up to look. “Huh. Okay, you slot the cartridge there, that does that and…” Tony trailed off into a mumble.

“ _Self-defense_ ,” Peter typed out. “ _Tie up the bad guys, but can be used as an escape tool. Plus, the web fluid is bio-degradable and has disinfectant qualities._ ”

“From the hydrogen peroxide, I see,” Bruce hummed, swiping the formula on to the holo-board as well. “It’s not going to last long, I think you can switch it out to this—” Peter waved a hand, shaking his head.

“ _I thought about that, but I want to use it with things I can get off a shelf_ ,” Peter replied. “ _That way, if I was ever in a pinch, I could just get it at Target or a pharmacy._ ”

“I don’t really want to see you and Gwen using the web-shooter,” Tony began, looking at Peter, and the teen looked down, shoulders drooping. He clenched a fist a few times before typing again.

“ _We have powers, Mr. Stark_ ,” Peter typed. “ _I know we’re not experienced to go into a real fight, but the least we can do is tie up a bad guy._ ”

“Tie up a bad guy?” Tony started. “Peter, that is—"

“A good idea,” Bruce interrupted, earning an incredulous look from Tony. The scientist shrugged. “They’ve got powers that they want to use for good. Also, teenagers. You know the word ‘no’ isn’t part of their vocabulary.” Peter coughed, looking sheepish for a moment then shrugged.

“No. No way are they—no, you and Gwen are not allowed to go out looking for a fight against bad guys,” Tony ordered.

“ _Captain America did it, and he didn’t even have powers then_ ,” Peter protested. “ _He was protecting the little guys._ ”

“Oh, god, you’re a Captain America fan-boy, aren’t you?” Tony groaned. “Peter. Kid. No. Cap’s a stubborn moron who was knocked in the head too many times ‘protecting the little guys.’ You and Gwen are just kids, you should just be kids.”

There was a familiar stubborn set in Peter’s jaw, his eyes narrowing, and Tony was more than ready to fight back.

“How about,” Bruce interrupted, hands up to calm the two, “you make the web-shooter but for medical use. I’m interested in how your formula is going to be applied to wounds.” Peter and Tony blinked at Bruce, taking in his serene expression.

“Actually, I insist,” Bruce added and smiled.

.

.

.

“This is the place,” Clint said, looking at the coffee shop. Natasha hummed, glancing around the area before the two walked into the shop. They easily changed into a couple, Clint looking at the cakes while Natasha went to the counter to talk to the owner.

Two coffee in hand, she thanked the owner and headed back to Clint, handing him a coffee and rubbing his back soothingly as they exited the shop.

“Looks like the support group gets a few referrals from an Alias Investigations,” Natasha said quietly, pulling out her cell. “JARVIS, get me an address for Alias Investigations.” There was a pause then the cell dinged with an address, and the two were off.

“Still pretty fucked up,” Clint noted as they walked and sipped their coffee. “Kilgrave, right?” He shook his head, anger stewing in his chest. Fucking mind-control, god, Clint hated it with a fiery passion. Natasha coolly glanced at him, her eyes shifting back.

“Yes,” she answered simply. 

“Telepathy? Scent? Eye contact?”

“No idea.” Natasha took another sip. “Are you okay?”

“Fine,” Clint replied shortly. Natasha raised an eyebrow and Clint sighed. “Not really. Kilgrave’s a mind-controller, what if. What if he’s controlled the kids before and that’s why they’re running?” The atmosphere around Natasha cooled dangerously, and a few people sharing the sidewalk with them side-stepped them fearfully.

“Then we better find out what Kilgrave was doing,” Natasha said.

.

.

“Sorry, the boss lady isn’t here,” a man called out when they knocked on the door of Alias Investigations. Clint and Natasha turned to look at the neighbor who looked like he’d seen better days.

“Hey,” Clint greeted easily. “I’m Clint. She’s Natasha. When’s the boss lady coming back? We have some questions.” The man gave them a guarded look, shrugging in response.

“Do you know of the Kilgrave Support Group?” Natasha asked. They saw him flinch and the man rubbed his face nervously before crossing his arms. “We’d like to talk to them.”

“What for?”

“A couple of kids got cau—”

“Kids?” the man interrupted then looked away. “No, can’t be. Can it?”

“What?” Clint took a few steps towards the man, the air around him and Natasha plummeting. The man seemed to notice, glancing down the hall before stepping back to let them into his apartment. He nervously rubbed his face again as they stepped in and he closed the door.

“Look, a few months ago Kilgrave went crazy,” the man said. “Someone resisted and another broke free, don’t ask me how but they did it. Nearly died because of them. A little time later, rumor has it he finds the person who resisted, a kid, and still wouldn’t do what he’s told to do.” Clint and Natasha exchanged a look – Peter and Gwen had resisted?

“You seem to know a lot about Kilgrave,” Natasha asked and the man looked away.

“Use to be one of his pawns,” he admitted. “Suppose to keep an eye on the PI. To keep me from running, he got me into drugs. A friend helped get me off the drugs, got me clean.” The man wrung his hands. 

“Kilgrave’s going to be coming after them, the people who resisted him. Probably going to ruin their life before getting them killed. Not sure how him and Jess are involved aside from the Schlottman case, but she’s been dodging the apartment for a while now.” Clint crossed his arms, a hand moving up to his mouth to gnaw on his thumb thoughtfully.

“Look, uh,” Clint started then paused.

“Malcolm,” the man answered.

“Look, Malcolm, we know Kilgrave’s here in the city,” Clint said. “He caught up to one of the kids, scared the shit out of them.”

“Fucking hell,” Malcom hissed with a scowl, taking a few steps away from them, eyes on the floor before turning back. “Kid’s okay, right?”

“Must have resisted his orders,” Clint replied. “Wish I could do that.” There was something in his tone that gave Malcolm pause. The man eyed Clint, sizing him up.

“Yeah. Yeah, I think I get it,” the man said slowly. He rubbed his hands together, looking away for a moment before focusing back on them. “Look. No one’s been able to say no to him. He just comes up, tells you his orders and you just… you just do it, and then your life is effectively fucked.”

“What did you mean before, keeping you from running?” Natasha asked.

“His control, it, uh, it wears off,” Malcolm replied. Clint straightened slightly. “About, uh, about half a day? And definitely after he’s gone and we’ve done his order. He kept me in check with drugs.”

“That’s nothing like the mind-control I was under,” Clint murmured.

“As long as my cognitive re-calibration works,” Natasha said. Malcolm gave Natasha a confused look.

“She’s likes hitting people really hard in the head,” Clint answered drily, elbowing Natasha. “Sadist.” She just smirked. Malcom managed an amused snort before he rubbed his arm, a worried look on his face.

“I, uh, I should warn you,” he started, “you should keep those kids a secret.” That drew a sharp look from Clint and Natasha.

“A cop, uh, not sure if he’s still on the force or not. Uh, he’s got a real vendetta on Kilgrave,” Malcolm said. “Will Simpson. Nearly got Jess killed, and, uh, he doesn’t care about bystanders.”

“Ah, fuck,” Clint swore. “Because Kilgrave is going after them, right?”

“Fuck,” Natasha muttered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Should I tag this under Zebediah Killgrave or Kevin Thompson/Kilgrave? It should be the latter, right?


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To be fair, none of the Avengers really understood how Kilgrave’s powers worked.

Peter was brilliant.

Tony watched as the kid assembled the ‘web-shooter’, testing them out with water cartridges. Already he had an idea as to how Peter had wanted to use the web-shooters, and Tony watched in fascination as Peter tested, corrected, and tested again.

And if the formula worked like how Peter said it’d work…

Well, again, Peter was brilliant.

He had been tinkering with Na—Romanoff’s Widow Bites, still feeling annoyed by Bruce’s compromise, but soon Tony found himself watching Peter working. DUM-E was even helping the kid, holding a tool out once in a while, and Peter signing his thanks each time.

It was like watching a younger nicer version of himself work.

Peter switched out the water cartridge for one of the test formulas then aimed at the ground. He fired then gaped in surprise when a web shot out. Tony could feel his mouth open slightly in surprise at the success and the look of joy crossing Peter’s face. The kid did a small victory fist pump which made Tony smile, a feeling of pride welling up in his chest.

Peter was _fucking brilliant_.

He’d seen the test results for both Gwen and Peter, knew what they excelled at, but Peter’s intelligence had far exceeded what Tony had imagined, and the kid was just fourteen. Was it genetic? Peter’s dad was just a SHIELD agent, nothing special, but Mary Parker? The woman had been a linguist for the CIA and knew almost fifty languages, spoken and written, like the back of her hand, and that didn’t even include the ten obscure languages. 

The kid had to have gotten his smarts from Mary, even if it was in completely difference fields.

“Sir, Agent Romanoff and Agent Barton would like to speak to you in Conference Room A,” JARVIS announced, startling him from his thoughts. Tony glanced over to see Peter looking at him.

“Sure, J. Hey, Peter, maybe you should head up? It’s about time for another snack, yeah?” Peter’s stomach growled in response and Tony chuckles while Peter blushed. The teen followed Tony out of the workshop, Bruce joining them on the elevator. The elevator dropped Peter off first then stopped on the meeting floor where they met Romanoff, Clint and Sam.

“We have a problem,” Na— Romanoff said.

“Of fucking course, we do,” Tony grunted. He sat down into a cushy chair and began to slowly swivel. “What are we looking at, Romanoff?”

“Possible fourth party,” Clint said. Tony stopped swiveling, staring at the spy twins then at Bruce and Sam. Sam crossed his arms as Bruce leaned forward. “We need to keep an eye on Peter and Gwen when they go out of the Tower.”

“This sounds serious,” Bruce murmured.

“Officer William Simpson, formerly US Army Special Ops,” Romanoff said, pulling up a display. “Kilgrave had him, made him kill. He’s not under Kilgrave’s control anymore, but he holds a serious grudge.”

“The kind that doesn’t give a damn if innocents are in the way,” Clint added. Tony looked between the two spies before muttering a curse and rubbing his face with a hand.

“Fuck sakes, really? Not only do we have to worry about the Maggia, an evil faceless genetics organization, and Kilgrave, we have a guy who’s got a hard-on for Kilgrave and doesn’t give a shit about collateral damage so long as he can kill the guy?” Tony summarized. “ _Fuck._ ”

“So far, I don’t think Simpson knows about Peter and Gwen,” Romanoff said. “The way Malcolm talked about it though, it’s one of the kids that resisted.”

“Did Malcolm tell you about Kilgrave’s power?” Sam asked.

“Not much, the guy just walks up and tells them to do something and they just do it,” Clint said. “There is a time-limit, though, which is weird. Looks like I’ll be hanging out with kids more when we go out.”

“Time limit?” Bruce prompted.

“Sounds like half a day limit,” Clint answered. “Malcolm was doing some spying which meant being away of Kilgrave’s side. That meant Kilgrave needed a way to keep him on call, so he made Malcolm take up a drug habit.”

“He made—” Sam cut himself off with a swear. “That’s smart. Sick, but smart.”

“Hooray for intelligent super-villains,” Tony deadpanned. He brought up a display of the common floor kitchen, watching as Gwen and Peter chatted with each other. Gwen got up, wandering over to the fridge as she continued to talk to Peter. “Unmute, JARVIS.”

“ _—ake something for them?_ ” Gwen asked, looking in the fridge. “ _I’d say spaghetti and meatballs except it’s too late to make that._ ”

“ _We can try making Cuban sandwiches_ ,” Peter replied via his tablet. Gwen shook her head.

“ _That’s more lunch-y than dinner-y, isn’t it?_ ” Tony glanced at the time with a frown then looked over as Bruce got up from his seat.

“I’ll go help them,” Bruce said. “I could use an excuse to get out of the lab.”

“For shame, Bruce, your lab is a masterpiece,” Tony said. “I should know. I built it.” Bruce rolled his eyes as Sam snorted.

“Go, keep the spider twins busy,” Tony continued, waving a hand at them. “I want to check on any information JARVIS managed to dig up on Kilgrave. Make sure they don’t burn down my kitchen.”

.

.

The two teens looked up when the elevator doors opened and four of the Avengers walked out. Gwen gave them a cheerful greeting as Peter waved and smiled.

“Heard you guys were hungry,” Sam said.

“Er, no, well, yeah, we’re teens, we’re always hungry, but uh,” Gwen stammered out, “we figured we could help make something? I mean, Captain Rogers and Mr. Barnes are the ones who always cooked, and it’s something I did when-when dad was still alive.”

“That sounds great,” Clint said, taking a seat at the island. Bruce wandered into the kitchen to stand next to Gwen, checking the fridge and humming thoughtfully.

“Let’s go with curry,” Bruce said thoughtfully, rummaging through. “The question is what kind. I tend to go with Indian because it goes well for both vegetarians and non-vegetarians.”

“We’ve only had Thai and Japanese,” Gwen said, smiling a bit.

“Thai curry is pretty good,” Clint agreed, “but it’s time to expand your taste buds, kids. I demand Malaysian.”

“Malaysian curry sounds good,” Bruce said with a nod. “We do have most of the ingredients for it. Clint, do you mind picking up some coconut milk?”

“I got it,” Natasha said, getting up. “Knowing Clint, he’ll get coconut water instead.” 

“She’s not wrong,” the archer muttered, rolling his eyes as Natasha smirked and walked to the elevator.

“Can I help?” Gwen asked.

“Sure. You can chop the onions.” Gwen groaned and Peter silently laughed at her.

.

.

.

To be fair, none of the Avengers really understood how Kilgrave’s powers worked.

Natasha had walked into the bodega just to pick up a few cans of coconut milk and maybe a few junky snacks when an elderly lady approached her.

“Excuse me, young lady,” an elderly lady called out, catching Natasha’s attention. “I seem to have misplaced my glasses, dear, do you mind reading a label for me?”

“Sure,” Natasha replied, walking over. “It’s—”

“Lovely day, isn’t it?” a man interrupted with a smile. “You, stay. You, go away.” The old woman walked away as he looked over Natasha.

“Smile,” he ordered and Natasha smiled. Kilgrave smiled, raising a hand to stroke her cheek. “Yes, much prettier that way. You have Peter in the Tower? How’s he doing?”

“He’s doing well. Much healthier now,” Natasha answered and Kilgrave nodded.

“Excellent, excellent, can’t let my boy die out in the streets,” he said. “Mom would be so unhappy. You and your friend have been asking around about me.”

“Yes.”

“That’s quite rude, all those second-hand accounts, but then again, I do my best not to be found,” Kilgrave said with a sigh. “Well, we can’t have people snooping around, now can we? So.” Kilgrave leaned in, his mouth next to her ear.

“I want you,” he commanded quietly, “to go back to the Tower and kill an Avenger.”

“Yes,” Natasha replied.

“Good girl,” Kilgrave said, patting her cheek. “Off you go.”

.

.

Peter suddenly went rigid, eyes wide as he scanned the room before focusing on the elevator.

“Peter?” Clint asked worriedly. Sam looked over from the couch, muting the television as Bruce looked up from the stove. A quick glance at Gwen and Clint saw her attention was also directed at the elevator doors. “JARVIS, who’s in the elevator?”

“Agent Romanoff is in the elevator, Agent Barton,” JARVIS replied. Gwen slowly reached over and turned the stove off. The elevator doors opened and suddenly Clint was yanked out of his seat, the table flipped for cover as two gunshots rang out. He found Peter on top of him, shielding him, and turning his head, saw Bruce on the ground, Gwen over him. Another quick glance showed Sam had ducked for cover.

The common floor went into immediate lockdown. Natasha stalked towards them, and Clint got up, keeping Peter down as he grabbed a butter knife and threw a look at Sam. Sam nodded and moved, catching her attention and drawing another gunshot. Clint took the opportunity to get up and throw the knife, knocking the gun out of Natasha’s hand, and Clint surged forward at her.

“Let’s go!” Bruce yelled, grabbing Gwen and helping Peter up, hustling them quickly towards the back rooms. Sam jumped over the couch, charging forward, and the three Avengers fought. Barring Bucky, Natasha was the best at hand-to-hand, and it took everything Clint and Sam had to keep her at a stalemate.

The balcony doors suddenly flew opened and Tony coasted in, hands up and repulsors whining. Natasha moved, kicking Sam at Tony, and managing to grab a knife, threw it at Sam. Tony turned to shield Sam, the knife hitting the suit instead, and Clint was dodging as Natasha wielded a cleaver at him.

“The fuck’s going on?!” Tony shouted, firing a blast at Natasha. She ducked out of the way, grabbing the saucepan and throwing it at Clint. Clint shouted in pain as the content splashed and burnt him, and Natasha moved, using his body as cover as she tried to slice him up. “God damn it, Barton, out of the way!”

“Easier! Said! Than! Done! Stark!” Clint gritted out, managing to get the saucepan and using it to deflect the cleaver. “Damn it, Nat, wake up!”

Natasha didn’t reply, still trying to slice Clint. Clint jumped back, and Natasha ducked and rolled away when Tony fired. The cleaver switched hand, and she was in a crouch, gun in hand. She fired, Tony moving before Sam and Clint to take the bullet.

“Nat!” Bruce shouted, appearing from the back. Natasha quickly turned and fired, and Bruce crumbled to the floor. She seemed to freeze, blinking rapidly in confusion, and Clint took the opportunity to tackle her, quickly disarming her of the gun and cleaver before slamming her head into the ground. A grunt and Natasha went limp, and Clint panted, ignoring the pain on his arm and wounds.

“Bruce! _Bruce!_ ” Tony shouted, falling out of his suit as he and Sam scrambled towards the scientist.

“Oh, _ow_ ,” Bruce groaned from the floor. “Oh, that’s going to leave a mark.”

“Oh, thank fuck you’re okay,” Tony said, drooping in relief as Sam helped Bruce up into a sitting position. Bruce opened up his shirt, revealing a mess of webbing. 

“What the hell is this?” Sam asked, tapping his chest. “Is that a Kevlar vest under there?”

“Peter’s web formula,” Bruce wheezed out, Sam picking up a knife and slicing through the webbing. The Kevlar vest was loose around him, no doubt made for Clint’s body. The bullet was lodged inside, and Bruce winced as Sam helped get the vest off and checked his ribs. “Think I’m just bruised.”

“Let’s get an x-ray to make sure,” Sam said. “I’m just glad the Other Guy didn’t make a show.”

“Yeah, not going to lie, I was worried it might happen,” Bruce agreed, groaning as Sam helped him up. He looked over at Natasha, a worried look crossing his face. “Is… is she okay? Oh geez, Clint, your arm!”

“She’s knocked out, and ow, shit, yeah,” Clint said, getting up and heading towards the sink. He ran cold water over his burns, looking back as Tony suited up again and picked up Natasha. “Don’t know why she just froze after shooting you.”

“Come on, let’s get you down to Medical.,” Bruce ordered.

“JARVIS, send someone up to clean this up,” Tony said.

“I’ll go check on the kids,” Sam said, heading towards the back.

“Yeah, stay with them. Take them up to Wa—Maximoff’s apartment. JARVIS, let’s order Chinese, yeah? Usual order and send it up to Maximoff’s.”

“Of course, Sir.”

“And disable lockdown, J. Come on, Clint, let’s get your arm checked out.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam was waiting for them when the Quinjet landed four days later. Another HYDRA base destroyed, Wakanda had their stolen vibranium back, everything should be good.
> 
> Except Sam was waiting for them.
> 
> “What’d you do, punk?” Bucky muttered.
> 
> “Wait, why is it automatically my fault?” Steve asked, a bit offended. He was _positive_ he hadn’t done anything stupid before leaving for the mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writer's block sucks.

“You okay?” Clint asked as Tony finished applying antibiotics and bandages to his arm.

“Fine,” Natasha replied in a clipped tone. She was holding an ice-pack on the back of her head and glaring at her lap. “That bastard was right there.”

“At least he didn’t ruin your life?” Clint said after a moment’s pause. Natasha turned her glare at him. “Okay, sorry, just trying to lighten the mood.”

“JARVIS, how are the kids?” Tony asked as he finished taping Clint up. A display opened with the two teens and Sam in Wanda’s kitchen with take-out cartons strewn all over the kitchen counters. Peter and Gwen were nibbling on an eggroll each as Sam talked, waving his chopsticks. 

“I scared them,” Natasha said softly.

“You scared all of us,” Clint said, patting her knee. Bruce walked in, rubbing his chest as he frowned at the tablet in hand. He looked up and a relieved expression crossed his face, making his way towards Natasha. In a rare display, Natasha reached out and pulled Bruce into a hug, and he hugged back.

“Aww, that’s so cute,” Tony cooed. Both Natasha and Bruce flipped him off. “What do you have, Bruce?”

“It’s a virus,” Bruce started, pulling away from Natasha, a hand squeezing her knee. “Somehow the virus makes you obey his commands.”

“Fuck,” Tony swore, pacing away with a dark look. “Think we can scrounge up a vaccine?”

“Honestly, I’m not sure,” Bruce replied slowly. “I’m not familiar with virology to begin with, and from Natasha’s bloodwork, I don’t think I can make a vaccine with what’s left of the virus. I think Clint may have a good chance against him though, Tony, the commands most likely have to be audio cues.” 

“He was interested in Peter,” Natasha said. Bruce rubbed his face and let out a sigh.

“I think I know why,” Bruce said, a bitter expression crossing his face. “And the only reason why is because of Peter’s enhancements.”

“Peter is immune to the virus,” Natasha said, understanding dawning on her face.

“Not exactly immune, but resistant,” Bruce interjected, “and Peter’s about as stubborn as Steve, so it makes him _highly_ resistant. He probably doesn’t even realize it’s those two factors that saved him.”

“What I want to know,” Tony growled, “is why the hell did you come back into the room, Bruce? Nat could have killed you!” Natasha stilled, her eyes flicking over to Tony.

“Honestly, I thought I could get through to her,” Bruce replied, ducking his head. “It was dumb, I know, but at least the kids insisted that I put on the Kevlar vest. Sorry about that, by the way, Clint.”

“Hey, if it kept you alive, it’s done its job,” Clint said with a shrug. “Surprised you found it.”

“Apparently you’re not the only one who likes to explore the vents.”

“Well, your action made me think I killed you,” Natasha snarled heatedly, getting off the cot and walking a few steps away. She took a few deep breaths then looked back. “Which means I finished his order.”

“What?” Tony and Bruce blinked at her as understanding dawned on Clint’s face.

“Malcolm said that the mind-control only keeps for half a day or until the order is done,” Clint pointed out. Both scientists quickly understood

“Kilgrave wanted me to kill an Avenger,” Natasha continued. “I shot Bruce and when he fell, I thought I had killed him. I thought I killed an Avenger.” 

“He was at the bodega?” Tony stepped back, pulling up camera displays and rewinding them. JARVIS stopped and began to play when Natasha arrived at the bodega. An old woman stopped her, leading towards an aisle where Kilgrave made an appearance. “Old lady in on it, JARVIS?”

“I do not believe so, Sir,” JARVIS replied. “Miriam Santos arrived thirty seconds before Agent Romanoff. Subject Kilgrave followed after Agent Romanoff into the bodega two minutes after.”

“Coincidence?” Clint voiced. “He doesn’t seem to be the type to just wait around to catch one of us alone.” Tony hummed, eyes narrowing as he had JARVIS scan the streets for Kilgrave.

“No, he was here for a reason. Getting to Nat was just a coinci—huh. J, who’s he with?”

“Caesar Cicero. He was formerly one of the attorneys for the Silvermane Family, Sir,” JARVIS replied after a minute.

“Formerly?”

“It would appear he and the current head of the Silvermane family Allan Silverman had a falling out,” JARVIS clarified. “Reports have him attempting to create his own group to go against the Silvermane family. DEA, FBI and NYPD have been working in conjunction to arrest Cicero before he can do so.”

“Kilgrave owns him then,” Tony growled. “Great.”

“Or he could be working with Cicero,” Clint pointed out. “Cicero would be more useful if he wasn’t under mind-control.”

“True.” Tony sighed, rubbing his face with a hand. “This just got a lot more complicated. Let’s wait for the others to get back.”

.

.

.

Sam was waiting for them when the Quinjet landed four days later. Another HYDRA base destroyed, Wakanda had their stolen vibranium back, everything should be good.

Except Sam was waiting for them.

“What’d you do, punk?” Bucky muttered.

“Wait, why is it automatically my fault?” Steve asked, a bit offended. He was _positive_ he hadn’t done anything stupid before leaving for the mission.

“He doesn’t have the ‘I’m So Done with This Bullshit’ look on his face,” Wanda noted, looking out. “It looks more like the ‘An Avenger Did a Dumb and Steve Needs to Fix This’ look.” Steve sighed – he knew _that_ look pretty well and it usually involved Tony. As the doors opened, they all walked out with their bags to meet Sam.

“It’s not Tony,” Sam said as a greeting. He turned his head to look at Wanda. “Might want to head in first, see the kids.” Wanda frowned, a flash of worry crossing her face before she nodded and quickly headed into the Tower.

“What’s the situation?” Steve asked as they walked in.

“Well, Nat had a run-in with the mind-controller,” Sam said. “Good news: we’re all fine. Also, Tony got his excuse to redecorate the common room floor.” Steve gave Sam a sharp look and Sam heaved a sigh.

“Let’s just say I never want to face Natasha alone, and she’s still scary as fuck without weapons,” Sam said. “She’d been making herself scarce around the kids, only hanging out when the rest of us are around. Finally began showing up to practice yesterday when Gwen basically marched onto her floor and told Nat the testosterone was getting too heavy in the gym.”

“The hell happen, Sam?” Steve asked, stopping before the elevator.

“Our mind-controller Kilgrave? He sent Nat after us,” Sam explained then grimaced. “Had her try to kill us in front of the kids.” Bucky swore as Maria’s eyes went cold. Steve rubbed his face, taking a few steps away before turning back to Sam.

“Any idea how and why Kilgrave’s doing this?” Steve asked. Sam shrugged and they all entered the elevator. “Common floor please, JARVIS.” The elevator began its descent, opening the door to Peter, Gwen and Wanda seated at the kitchen island talking. Gwen looked up with a bright smile and waved while Peter gave a smaller smile and wave as Steve, Bucky and Sam entered the floor. Maria continued down, most likely to her office to report to whoever was in charge of SHIELD now.

Steve sometimes wondered if it was still Fury, but then Nat would let slip that Fury would be somewhere else in the world, up to his spy tricks.

Natasha was seated far away from the three, feet on Clint’s lap as the archer carefully painted her toenails. She looked up from her book and gave them a nod in greeting.

“Hey, Gwen, Peter,” Steve greeted with a smile. Sam walked into the kitchen, opening the fridge to pull out a few bottles of beer. Steve and Bucky dropped their bags by the elevator, next to where Wanda had left hers.

“Hey, Captain Rogers! Did you really pack fireworks into the bombs?” Gwen asked. Steve chuckled and shook his head as he joined Sam in the kitchen. Bucky wandered over to the sofa, taking a seat and his head dropped back, his eyes closed.

“No, no, there was, uh, strontium chloride and calcium nitrate at the base, Bucky and I just packed some with the explosives,” Steve replied. Peter perked up at the science terminologies, eyes wide in surprise. He probably didn’t expect Captain America to know chemicals and Steve chuckled again.

“Don’t look so surprise, Peter, Bucky’s the smart one,” he said.

“Someone had to be the smart one,” Bucky called out. Peter’s lips curled up as Steve turned to glare at Bucky. “Look, which one of us here use to get into fights with people three times bigger?”

“That still hasn’t change, by the way,” Sam added, handing one beer to Steve before joining Bucky on the couch. The television turned on, a game of basketball playing. Gwen and Wanda were giggling and Peter covered his mouth, trying to hide the fact that he was laughing.

“They’re not three times bigger than me anymore,” Steve protested.

“Hulk is three times bigger than you,” Tony pointed out as he and Bruce entered the floor. “The Hulkbuster is also three times bigger than you, Cap.”

“You took on the Hulk?” Gwen asked.

“I did not take on the Hulk,” Steve grumbled.

“He did not take on the Hulk,” Tony confirmed then smirked. “He did take on the Hulkbuster.”

“Still kicked your ass, Stark.”

“Language!” Tony said mockingly, moving into the kitchen for his coffee refill. He patted Steve on the shoulder, and Steve did his best not to jump in surprise. Something had changed in Tony after Peter had asked the question, and Steve wasn’t sure what.

There was a startled look on Wanda’s face as she looked at Tony before meeting Steve’s eyes. Her lips curled slightly down into a questioning frown and Steve shrugged.

“So. Let’s talk,” Tony said, turning around his coffee. “Right here, right now, kids. Let’s lay out all of our cards on the table.” Gwen and Peter’s smiles disappeared, the latter confused while Gwen’s expression turned cautious. The television muted and all of the Avengers’ attention were now on the kids.

“Kilgrave controls people by a virus,” Bruce began, settling down at the dining table and folding his hands. “Nat and Clint heard from one of his survivor’s that a couple people resisted, and one of them was a child.” His eyes slid over to Peter.

“You resisted his control, didn’t you, Peter?” Bruce asked. Peter bit his lip then nodded.

“Figured your immune system and stubbornness gave you a good fighting chance,” Tony replied with a sip of his coffee. “We also think you would have a good chance against the mind-control, Cap.” Steve grunted, taking a drink of his beer.

“Wish I got the immune upgrade,” Gwen said quietly. Steve could see Peter and Gwen holding hands again, a reassuring gesture.

“What I want to know is why Kilgrave’s with Cicero,” Tony continued, looking at Peter. “Any idea, Peter?” Peter mouthed an ‘Oh,’ frowned then reached out for his tablet.

“Cicero?” Steve asked, looking at Tony.

“Former attorney to the Silvermane family,” Tony replied the grimaced, “and he’s attempting to start his own drug-running group.”

“ _I saw the deal go down_ ,” Peter wrote. Steve straightened and Peter fidgeted then continued. “ _I was in the car with Uncle Ben. We were going home when a call came in. Uncle Ben went, and I saw everything go down from the car. He kept my name out of the reports because him and the other cops would testify and._ ” Peter stopped and looked at Gwen.

“Dad was investigating dirty cops in the ranks,” Gwen said. Steve put his beer bottle down, Tony moving up next to him and placing his mug down on the kitchen counter as well. “Don’t know if you heard about the Fisk thing—”

“Oh, yeah, heard about that,” Tony said with a nod. “Daredevil did a hell of a job, exposed all of Fisk’s men. Are you saying there are—you know what, I’m not surprised there’d be other dirty cops in the NYPD.” 

“Yeah, so uh, Dad had already cleaned house when Peter’s uncle was killed,” Gwen continued. “Then when May died, dad figured it had to be an inside job since after the cops who had testified, they and their families were killed. Except, um, except he couldn’t find any evidence.”

“Kilgrave,” Clint surmised thoughtfully. “Probably just talked to a cop and got the information that way.”

“Yeah, well, dad didn’t know about Kilgrave or his powers.” Gwen’s lips thinned, looking away for a moment. “Dad, uh, he always thought that it had something to do with the Maggia. Not sure how he came up with that theory, but then again I didn’t get to see all the clues.”

“Well, Cicero’s been out of the Maggia for a while so there’s a good chance that the people gunning for you two are Cicero’s and not the entire Maggia,” Tony said, rubbing his face. “Which, honestly, helps because the Maggia is fucking huge.”

“Does Kilgrave know you were a witness, Peter?” Steve asked. Peter hesitated, glancing at Gwen then nodded and began to type.

“ _Uncle Ben and I were getting ice-cream_ ,” he wrote. “ _Kilgrave came up to us with two ladies. He made one of the ladies punch Uncle Ben._ ”

“Wait, what?” Gwen interrupted in shock. “No, dad said Ben was shot!” Peter shook his head.

“ _The lady punched him really hard. He smashed into the fridge with the drinks and didn’t get up_ ,” Peter typed out. “ _Kilgrave told me to pick up Uncle Ben’s gun but I refused. He told the lady to pick up the gun and she didn’t._ ”

“She’s our other resistant,” Clint mused. Tony was already pulling up displays, looking for camera footage of the attack.

“ _He made the other lady pick up the gun and shoot Uncle Ben_ ,” Peter continued, sniffling. “ _Then he made the lady kill herself and told me to be quiet._ ”

“What about the resistant?” Steve asked.

“ _She ran away_ ,” Peter replied. “ _He ran after her._ ”

“There’s no security footage,” Tony announced with a frown.

“Dad always figured it’d been wiped,” Gwen said. “He couldn’t figure out how though. There were definitely cameras in the store, and apparently there was evidence of the whole thing going down.” Tony muttered a few curses under his breath, hands swiping away displays, pulling new ones down.

“Well, they did a thorough job then. They wiped the surrounding area cameras as well,” Tony growled. “Fuck, I wouldn’t put it past him to walk into the precinct and tell the cops there to wipe the evidence.

“Do you remember what the lady looked like?” Steve asked. Peter wiped his eyes and shook his head.

“ _She looked a bit like Wanda and Ms. Hill_ ,” he wrote.

Oh.

“ _Oh_ ,” Wanda whispered, and Peter quickly let go of Gwen’s hand to grab Wanda’s.

“It’s okay,” he signed to her and Wanda gave him a shaky smile.

“I’ve got an address for Cicero,” Tony said, looking up then at Steve. “Cap, I know you just—”

“No, it’s fine, I’ll go check it out,” Steve said, pushing away from the counter.

“I’ll come too,” Clint said, getting up from his seat. “I’ll have to take out my hearing aids.” Steve nodded.

“Is that why you can’t talk, Peter?” Gwen asked quietly. Steve paused, his attention on Peter. They had all assumed that Peter’s inability to speak had been due to trauma. Peter nodded and Gwen pulled him into a hug.

“The virus has a time-limit, Bruce,” Clint said slowly, walking up.

“It does,” Bruce answered with a frown. Peter shrugged. “Peter, do you mind if I draw some blood?” The teen made a face but got up from his seat. He paused then signed something at Bruce.

“Oh, sure,” Bruce said with a smile. “Hey, Sam, Gwen, would you mind…?

“Sure,” Sam said, getting up from his seat as Gwen slid off her chair. They went into the elevator first, and Steve looked at Tony.

“Anything I should look out for?” he asked.

“Laptop, computer,” Tony replied. “Bring your phone, I can hack in through it if the Internet is down. Hope you remember your ASL, Cap.”

“Got it.”

“Okay, let me get my jacket,” Clint said, heading towards the elevator. Steve followed, grabbing his bag on the way to drop off at his apartment.

.

.

“So. What’s up with you and Stark?” Clint asked as he drove them to Cicero’s apartment. Steve glanced at the archer then looked back out the window.

“Honestly? I have no idea,” Steve admitted. “Well, maybe Peter had something to do with it?”

“Peter?”

“He asked if we weren’t mad at each other anymore,” Steve said then huffed. “I didn’t think Tony and I were acting like we were angry at each other.”

“Kids are good at seeing things between adults,” Clint said easily. “And it was a bit cool between you and Stark. Oh, you guys were doing your best to not let it affect us and the kids, but we all could still see when mom and dad are fighting.”

Steve was quiet for a moment.

“Am I mom or dad?” he asked curiously, looking over at Clint.

“Pfft. You’re definitely mom, Cap, seeing as you’re the one making yummy food for us to eat. Fighting super-villains is the only reason I haven’t turned into a three-hundred-pound blob.” Steve chuckled at that as Clint pulled into a parking spot, reaching up to place the earpiece in. “Okay, we’re here.”

“JARVIS, what floor is Cicero on?” Steve asked as he looked at the apartment building. It was a lovely building, most likely purchased by ill-gotten money.

“Caesar Cicero is on the top floor, Captain Rogers,” JARVIS replied. “There is only one elevator that goes directly to that floor.”

“And there’s a doorman, so they’ll see us if we go in through the front,” Clint added. “Let’s check the back door, Cap.” They walked around the building, looking at the closed docking bay and stopped before a door.

“Camera and no handle,” Steve noted. “JARVIS, can you open the door?”

“One moment.” A pause. “Yes, Captain Rogers.”

“Good. Loop the camera and get us is.” Another pause then a click as the back door opened. Steve and Clint slipped into the building, Steve taking point as he kept an ear out. They managed to get into the elevator without the concierge noticing – an easy feast seeing as they were facing towards the front door – and Steve and Clint checked their weapons. Clint took out his hearing aid, tapping then raising his hand to show his watch.

“Ready?” Steve asked, the watch buzzing.

“Ready, Cap,” Clint replied. The doors opened and Steve stepped out, taking point. There was no one in the hallway and they moved unhurriedly towards the front door. Clint moved ahead, looking over the lock with a hum. “JARVIS, there’s a keypad. Think you can let us is?”

A pause then the door clicked open. Steve entered first and let out a soft curse.

It was a god damn blood bath.

“Whoa.” Clint slowly walked in, looking around the room as he and Steve cleared the apartment. When they confirmed the apartment was clear, they holstered their weapons and made their way back to the bodies. The archer put his hearing aid back in then slipped on a pair of gloves as he knelt down next to one of the bodies.

“What do you have?” Steve asked.

“Looks like they all shot each other in the head,” Clint replied, moving to the second body. He hummed as he checked the other four bodies. “Found Cicero.”

“Damn,” Steve swore softly, stepping over to the body of a heavy-set man. He looked around then spotted the laptop. “JARVIS, contact Stark.”

“ _What’s up, Cap?_ ” Tony asked over the comms.

“Cicero’s dead,” Steve reported. Tony went quiet. “I’m looking at what I think is his laptop. Any way you can hack in?”

“ _Can I hack in, of course I can hack in_ ,” Tony scoffed. “ _Power it up, Cap._ ” Steve pulled on a pair of gloves and opened the laptop. It woke up immediately and he watched as the log in screen disappeared, files opening.

“Cap, someone’s coming,” Clint suddenly said, quickly drawing his gun. Steve moved, gun out as he heard confused voices outside. The wall shielding him, he counted two people slowly walking into the apartment. Guns appeared and both he and Clint moved, disarming the men and slamming them to the floor.

“Fuck! Shit!” one of the goons swore as he struggled under Clint and Steve.

“Holy shit,” the other breathed in horror, eyes taking in the carnage. “Holy shit, _holy shit._ ”

“Well. Who might you two fine gentlemen be?” Steve asked. They both looked up and their eyes widened in recognition.

“ _Holy shit_ ,” the second fellow whispered, this time in awe.

“Got a fan, Cap,” Clint noted in amusement.

“Shit, man, did you do that?” the first goon asked, staring in horror.

“Nope, that would be the person we’re looking for,” Clint replied. “Know anything about him?”

“Ain’t got a clue, man,” the first goon replied. Second goon seemed to be stuck on the fact that Captain America was currently holding him and his buddy on the ground. “We was suppose to ask Mr. Cicero nicely to stop his operations. That’s all, man.”

“Well, suffice to say, he’s stopped his operations,” Clint said drily.

“You can say that again,” second good muttered. “Dude, holy shit, it’s _Captain America_. We’ve been captured by _Captain America_.”

“What am I, chopped liver?” Clint muttered.

“Would your bosses be after a couple of kids?” Steve asked, tilting his head. Goon one frowned.

“No, we ain’t got orders to get kids,” the man said with distaste. “We’re bad guys but we’re bad guys with integrity. Kids are off-limits.”

“Well, that’s good then.” Steve hauled both of them to their feet. “You should let your boss know that Cicero’s dead, and we’re looking into the fellow who killed him.”

“Uh,” second goon said.

“Just let your boss know the Avengers were already looking into the fellow that killed Cicero, and they don’t need to do a thing,” Clint said, shooting a look at Steve. “Got it?”

“Yeah, yeah, uh, got it,” goon one replied. Steve handed them their guns, smiling as they holstered their weapons and turned to leave. The second goon took two steps then turned.

“Uh, hey, uh, Captain America, sir? Could, uh, could I get your autograph and a selfie?”


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What are you thinking about, Peter?” Gwen asked, finally breaking the silence. Peter stared out at the city for a moment then looked back at her, pulling out his cell.
> 
> “ _We should help people_ ,” he wrote.
> 
> “Help people? Like, soup kitchen or taking down bad guys?”
> 
> “ _Bad guys._ ”
> 
> “Huh.” Gwen chewed on her thumbnail, studying Peter with narrow eyes. “Why?”
> 
> “ _Because when we can do the things we can, but we don’t, and something bad happens? They happen because of us._ ” Gwen read the words once, twice, three more times then looked away. They sat there for a while longer, looking over the city.

“I got him killed,” Gwen said quietly to Sam, pulling her gaze from the floor to the Avenger from her seat on the medical cot. “No, that’s not right. More like I… I killed my dad.”

There was a beat of silence as a look of understanding crossed Sam’s face before he threw a quick glance over towards Bruce and Peter. She glanced over to see Peter looking back at her with a worried look from his seat on the medical cot. Bruce didn’t seem to notice, his attention on the medical equipment.

“Kilgrave made you kill him,” Sam concluded, drawing Gwen’s attention.

“It was me or dad,” Gwen said with a sniffle, her eyes beginning to burn with tears. Her heart was beating so fast, it was a wonder she didn’t keel over from a heart attack. “Kilgrave, he had me stand there with a gun to my head, and dad, dad couldn’t shoot him. He didn’t know what would happen if-if he shot Kilgrave. It was just a game to Kilgrave, to make dad hurt.

“And then Peter. Peter was with me, tried to stop him,” Gwen continued, scrubbing away the tears from her face, “but all it did was-was make Kilgrave more interested in him. Because he wasn’t doing what he was being told to do again. Because he was, he was like her.”

“The woman who resisted,” Sam said and Gwen nodded.

“He told Peter he had to decide. Peter had to decide. He.” The sob escaped her throat before she could stop it, and Gwen ducked her head, pulling back the urge to let out another sob. “He had to decide who lived or died.” 

Sam was suddenly there, arms tight around her shoulders, her face against his chest, and this time Gwen let out a sob, a hand reaching up to grab Sam’s shirt as tears poured out. There was a clatter from behind, Sam stiffening against her before she heard someone quickly leaving the room.

“I’m sorry,” Gwen said, between sniffles. “I’m sorry.”

“Hey, no, no, there’s nothing to be sorry about, Gwen,” Sam interrupted, arms tightening. “It was out of your control. Both of your control.” Sam shifted slightly and then there was another body hugging her from behind, and Gwen knew it was Peter trying to comfort her.

“Huh,” a voice – Tony, Gwen realized belatedly – said. “What’s going on? What’s with the hugging festival? And why’d JARVIS say we had a potential Code Green?”

“Bruce’s in the Hulk room, I think,” Sam replied. “Don’t know if he finished checking Peter’s blood.” Tony grunted behind them, and Peter petted Gwen’s head then pulled away. Gwen pulled away slightly, still sniffling to see Peter wave hello to Tony, and the man nodded a greeting before reaching over to grab the tissue box. 

“Cool,” Tony said. “And, no, I’m not going to check the results, I do not need Brucie-Bear to Hulk out on me, even if Big Green is a giant softie.”

“He is?” Gwen asked, sniffling. Tony handed the tissue box over to Peter who walked back over to Gwen and handed her box. She took it gratefully, pulling away from Sam so she could blow her nose. Sam rubbed her back as he took a seat next to her, his presence welcomed after her small cry-fest.

“ _Huge softie_ ,” Tony said with a nod. “Makes Cap look like the old man who yells at people to get off his lawn.” Sam snorted in amusement as Gwen let out a wet laugh and Peter’s shoulder shook. Tony sat down in Bruce’s seat with a groan, looking between the two.

“You know we’d never blame you, right?” Tony said gently. “We’ve all got our baggage – hell, I’ve killed thousands just with my brain.”

“ _Tony_ ,” Sam admonished and the billionaire glared then looked away with a grunt. Gwen watched as Tony collected himself, scrubbing his hair with a hand.

“Look, it’s not in us to turn away people who need help,” Tony said, “especially people on the run from murderous psychos, the mob, and mad scientists.”

“No, you’re just staying in a Tower with a bunch of less murderous crazies and two slightly less mad scientists,” Sam murmured. Gwen giggled.

“Wilson, Bruce and I are lovely, sane scientists,” Tony said primly. “I might be eccentric and Bruce might smoke a lot of weed—”

“I don’t smoke weed,” Bruce said with an exasperated tone as he shuffled back into Medical. Gwen noticed Sam and Tony eyeing the doctor for a moment before settling back. “Weed actually makes me nauseous so I meditate. Sorry about that.”

“No problem, Bruce,” Sam called out. Gwen sniffled but she felt more put together now. She gave Sam a grateful look and he smiled, patting her shoulder.

“Sir, Captain Rogers is on the comms,” JARVIS announced. 

“Got it.” Tony got up and walked out of Medical, giving Bruce a pat and a squeeze on the shoulder as he passed by. “What’s up, Cap?” Bruce took back his seat, giving Sam and Gwen a shaky smile before turning his attention towards Peter.

“So, there’s no sign of the virus in your blood, Peter,” Bruce said. “Which makes sense with the time-limit Clint and Natasha talked about before.”

“Then why can’t Peter talk?” Gwen asked, leaning forward, her attention on Bruce.

“It could be psychological,” Bruce answered and Sam gave a hum.

“Kilgrave told Peter to be quiet and, because of what was happening at the time, the order just stuck,” Sam said thoughtfully. Gwen looked at Sam then at Peter before she nodded slowly.

“Yeah, okay, yeah, I get it,” she said. “I, uh, I sometimes wonder if I’m still here, still in the now.” Gwen resisted the urge to shudder, beating back the memory of her just standing there singing while her dad—

_I’m here. I’m safe. I’m here._

“Um.” Gwen took a breath, her fingers digging into her thighs as she looked at Sam. “Any way we can fix it?”

“Honestly? I don’t know.” Sam rubbed the back of his neck with a sigh. “I can tell you now, the knowledge of Kilgrave and all these people after you? Not helping.”

“Not at all,” Peter signed with a sigh.

“Well, you can scratch one group of people that are after you two off the list,” Tony said as he walked back into Medical. “The Maggia and Cicero, they won’t be coming after you.” Gwen blinked and shared a look with Peter before turning back to Tony.

“Uh, please tell me Captain Rogers and Mr. Barton didn’t commit bloody murder for us,” she said nervously. Tony snorted, shaking his head.

“No, looks like Kilgrave got to Cicero first,” Tony replied. “The rest of the Maggia have nothing to do with what Cicero was doing so they’re happy to back off and let us take care of Kilgrave.”

“One less player in the field,” Sam noted. 

“Make that two less players,” Maria said, walking in with a tablet. Gwen straightened in surprise by the announcement, watching as Maria placed the tablet on the table next to Tony then looked at the others. “HYDRA’s backed off.”

“What?” Sam said in surprise. Gwen could feel the tension in the air now as Sam got up, arms crossing as he looked between Maria and Tony. Bruce pulled off his glasses, his attention also on the two as Tony picked up the tablet and began to scroll.

“The US military has been doing a cleaning of their own,” Maria reported. “The last few hold-out were arrested or committed suicide. General Fischer killed himself last night.”

“Which actually pisses me off,” Tony growled. “I knew him. Rhodey fucking knew him.” He dropped the tablet back onto the table and walked a few paces away, hands on his hips.

“Are we going to be looked at?” Tony asked, turning back to Maria.

“No, SHIELD and the US government have full confidence in both yours and Col. Rhodes’ loyalty,” Maria replied. Tony nodded, blowing out a breath before eyeing the two teens. He made a thoughtful noise then walked out of Medical.

“Um,” Gwen said, exchanging a confused look with Peter before turning to look at the others.

“Give it a few minutes,” Bruce said serenely. “What do you think we should do for dinner?”

“Um,” Gwen repeated because really? Tony Stark just went “Huh” at them, walked out, and the proper response was “what’s for dinner?”

Clearly Sam’s comment on living in a building with crazies wasn’t a joke.

“I’ve been craving tacos,” Maria replied.

“Sinigual?” Sam asked. “Their guac’s amazing.”

“Tacos Grand Central,” Maria countered.

“We have four enhanced people, we’d clean them out,” Bruce pointed out. 

“Then we order from both Sinigual and Tacos Grand Central,” Maria said with a shrug. “Sam’s right, their guac’s amazing.”

“JARVIS, pull up menus for both Sinigual and Tacos Grand Central,” Tony said as he strode back into Medical. He walked over to Gwen and Peter, handing them both a Starktech cell. Gwen stared at it, exchanged a look with Peter then looked at Tony. “Let JARVIS know what you want. J, let Cap and Clint know we’re ordering out.”

“Of course, Sir.”

“What’s with the phones, Mr. Stark?” Gwen asked, looking at the phone in awe. She’d seen this phone in the ads, and Tony had just casually given them $600 phones. 

“Well, two out of three baddies are off the list,” Tony was saying, “so I’m making a judgement call and letting you two back out into the city without adult supervision.” Gwen stared at Tony in surprise as feelings of relief and fear welled up in her chest.

Relief because at least they weren’t going to be stuck in the Tower like some princesses in a fairy tale. Fear because of Kilgrave was still out there.

“You sure?” Sam asked slowly. 

“I’m sure,” Tony replied with a nod. “Look, Kilgrave isn’t going to just hang around Midtown just for Peter to come out, and I can see you two are going crazy being cooped up here.”

“Well, you’re not wrong about that,” Gwen muttered, fidgeting slightly. Peter was chewing his bottom lip, glancing between her and the others.

“He’s up to something, we just don’t know what,” Tony continued with a frown. “And, not knowing what his game is, is really pissing me off.”

“Everything pisses you off, Tony,” Sam said in exasperated amusement, “but in this case, I’m also pissed off with whatever the hell Kilgrave’s up to.” Bruce and Maria nodded in agreement, and Peter and Gwen shared a look.

“We OK,” Peter signed at Gwen then gave her a small innocent smile. Oh, that meant Peter had an idea – the problem with that is that it usually meant it was both a terrible and wonderful idea. The last time Peter had one of those ideas, it had ended with two small-time robbers in jail, a month without internet and a 6pm curfew.

Totally worth it.

“Awesome,” Tony said with a nod. “Be back around six when you do go out, I’ll see about credit cards—”

“Erm, cash is better?” Gwen quickly interrupted. “And, uh, Mr. Stark, you’re not going to, um, just give us money, are you?”

“Uh, yeah?” Gwen was pretty sure her expression was exactly the same as Peter’s. “Hello! Billionaire here.”

“Yeah, but you can’t just _give_ money to kids for no reason,” Gwen pointed out. “Aren’t you suppose to be, I don’t know, teaching us to be responsible or something?” Bruce and Sam made a choking noise while Maria snorted, and all three of them looked away, shoulders shaking.

“How old are you two again?” Tony asked after a pause, squinting at them.

“Fourteen.”

“And already talking about responsibility?” Tony rubbed his face, mumbling something under his breath. Peter blinked at Tony before a soft smile crossed his lips. “Right, I guess I could… well, not really. Uh.”

“Internship,” Maria said. “You two will continued with self-defense lessons with Clint and Natasha, and do lessons—"

“Ick. School,” Gwen said, but with a small smile because, hey, that’s normal. Normal is good.

“—and in the afternoon, Gwen will work with me while Peter works with Bruce and Tony,” Maria finished. “Sounds good?” Everybody nodded in response.

“Right, okay, we’re done with bonding and, ugh, _feelings_ , let’s order some food,” Tony said. “JARVIS, any word from Cap and Barton?”

“I have their orders, Sir,” JARVIS replied, “as well as the others. Awaiting your orders now.”

Peter and Gwen skimmed the menu as the others placed their orders – apparently, they’ve ordered out enough to know what they want by heart – before telling JARVIS their own order. They followed the adults out of the Medical Bay, Peter typing out that he and Gwen are going to their rooms first.

Once on Wanda’s floor, Peter gestured for Gwen to follow him to his room. She followed, watching curiously as Peter opened a drawer, picking up something before turning and shoving it into her hands. Her eyes widened when she recognized it as web-shooters, and she looked up to see Peter pulling at his sleeves, showing his own web-shooters.

“Put them on,” Peter signed. Gwen blinked then with a shrug, put on the web-shooters. Peter checked the fit, tightening it slightly then gave her a questioning look. She fiddled with it, moving her hands around then nodded.

“Feels fine,” she said. Peter smiled. “So, why do I have these?”

“Self-defense,” Peter signed then handed her a few canisters. He showed her how to place them in then glanced anxiously around his room. Gwen narrowed her eyes and Peter gave her a nervous smile before taking out his new phone and typing. 

“ _Want to try to do some web swinging?_ ”

“Web slinging?” she asked. Peter showed her his wrist, aimed it and fired a web strand onto the ceiling. He twisted his wrist, cutting the strand then climbed up onto it, flipping to look at her upside down. “That’s not web-slinging, Peter, that’s just, no, that’s literally just web-hanging.”

Peter rolled his eyes and jumped down.

“ _Room too small_ ,” he typed. “ _We swing in gym._ ” Gwen squinted.

“You’re going to need to do a demo,” she said, “because I don’t get it.”

“ _Later_ ,” he replied with a nod.

.

.

.

Steve and Clint came back late, completely missing dinner with the team.

“We had to call the police,” Steve explained, crossing his arms and giving them all a tired frown. “Yes, they were all terrible people, but we should still let the police know.”

“And we’re probably going to get a visit from the FBI, DEA, and whoever else,” Clint added, waving his hand. “Please tell me there’s still some guac from Sinigual left.” He opened the fridge and let out a small “Hell yeah!” as he took out the containers of guacamole and both his and Steve’s dinner.

“’M just glad neither of you decided t’ turn into Murder-vengers,” Gwen murmured sleepily, leaning against Peter. Peter looked ready to pass out, snuggled up against Wanda’s side and letting the woman run her fingers through his hair.

It was a sweet sight, Wanda jumping into the elder sister role for the two teens.

“Come on, you two, better get to bed,” Wanda said softly. Peter and Gwen both hummed, sleepily getting up and stumbling after Wanda to the elevator. The rest of the Avengers watched the three leave before Tony leaned back in his seat with a sigh.

“I’m letting them out of the Tower, now that Cicero’s out,” he said, turning to look at Steve and Clint. “Maria also said HYDRA’s out of the game.”

“Out?” Steve tilted his head slightly before turning to take his re-heated burrito from Clint.

“The US military recently did an internal cleaning, got rid of a bunch of hidden HYDRA personnel.” Tony looked away and towards the movie playing on the screen. “Rhodey might be coming by in a few days.”

“That bad, huh,” Steve murmured.

“We knew one of the generals,” Tony answered in a clipped tone. That was enough information for the team to know, and Tony switched back to the main topic. “The kids seem pretty excited to be going out.”

“Cooped up here for a while, I don’t blame them,” Clint said as he munched on the tortilla chips and guacamole. “Peter meeting Kilgrave didn’t help either.”

“They didn’t like the part about getting a free credit card.” Clint and Steve snorted.

“Let me guess – they don’t like the idea of free money, and want to work for it,” Clint speculated. “Their parents and guardians must have taught them about responsibility and accountability.”

“They had great parents,” Tony said softly.

“Definitely,” Bruce agreed, Clint and Natasha nodding as well. The elevator doors opened and Wanda entered the floor, moving to take a seat next to Bucky. “We’re setting them up as interns at SI. They’ll do practice and lessons in the morning then head down to help out.”

“Peter will be with me and Bruce in the labs,” Tony added. “Figured Gwen will be helping Maria with filing paperwork and handing out badges.”

“I hate filing,” Maria agreed and Pepper nodded, tapping on her tablet.

“Good, now that’s out of the way,” Tony said, getting up from his seat, “I can tell you all that Kilgrave doesn’t have anything to do with Cicero’s operations.”

“None at all?” Steve frowned as he heated up his second burrito.

“Nope. I think he was only working with Cicero for information,” Tony replied, pulling up holo-displays. “Cicero’s got emails and messages looking into some house in Queens and, get this, Alias Investigations.” Natasha sat up while Clint stopped eating, their attention completely on Tony. Steve grabbed his second burrito before the microwave beeped, curious now.

“Why?” Clint asked.

“Someone, and I’m betting it’s Kilgrave, was interested in the PI, Jessica Jones.” Another holo-display popped up with a photo of Jessica Jones. “Looks kind of familiar, yeah?”

“A bit like Maria and Wanda,” Natasha noted. “She’s our runner.”

“No doubt about it.” Tony pushed the display out of the way. “She helped start the support group, found the soundbite on this talk show. By the way, that lawyer Hogarth? I kind of want her.”

“No,” Pepper replied sharply, giving Tony a look and he shrugged.

“Jones has been avoiding her apartment,” Clint noted between bites of his own burrito. “Probably in an effort to keep Kilgrave off her scent? Maybe protect that neighbor of hers?”

“Possible,” Natasha agreed, “or she’s with Simpson.”

“Fuck, forgot about him,” Clint muttered. “You don’t think they’re working together?”

“Probably holds a grudge like Simpson, if the soundbite is any clue,” Tony agreed, “though her personality says otherwise. She’s got a ‘stay away’ thing going on, probably doesn’t want collateral if I’m reading this right. Sent the file over to you, Steve.” Steve paused mid-bite, blinking in surprise.

“By the way, someone filed a missing person’s report a few months back,” Tony continued casually, rubbing the back of his head as he ignored Steve. “Looks like someone’s missing Gwen.”

“Who?” Wanda asked, blinking at the change in subject.

“Funnily enough, one of the lawyers who brought down Wilson Fisk.” Tony pulled up a display of the lawyer. “Matt Murdock. Him and co-founder Franklin Nelson own a small lawyer firm in Hell’s Kitchen. He’s also Gwen’s guardian.”

“Does she know?” Pepper asked in surprise.

“Not sure, I’ll ask tomorrow.”

.

.

.

“So. Matthew Murdock,” Tony started and Gwen blinked, mouth full of pancake. “You know him?” She chewed and swallowed, taking a sip of her tea before nodding.

“Yeah, uh, yeah, he’s my uncle,” she replied. “Well, technically. I mean, he’s not blood-related, and the only reason why I even call him an uncle is because dad introduced him as my uncle. Dad was joking, but Matt didn’t seem to care.”

“Okay, and why not stay with him?” Tony asked, tilting his head slightly before turning when a plate of blueberry pancakes settled next to his arm. “Turns out he’s your guardian.” Gwen blinked again then looked at Steve and Wanda. Steve shot a reassuring smile at Gwen, glancing over at Peter before moving back to the stove. Wanda turned to shovel a few more strips of bacon onto Peter’s plate, grinning when Peter immediately picked up a strip.

“Oh, I did not know that,” Gwen said faintly. She began to bounce her fork between her fingers as she thought about it. “Well, for one, Matt’s blind. No way am I bringing trouble to him, especially because, reason number two, lawyer. He gets into enough trouble as it is.”

“Fisk,” Tony said, snapping his fingers. “If I remember correctly, he was being a pain in Fisk’s ass before Daredevil and the FBI caught up.”

“Yeah, that’s Matt,” Gwen confirmed.

“Bit of an asshole,” Tony added thoughtfully, taking a bite of his pancake.

“Yeah, that’s Matt,” Gwen repeated with a sigh. Peter silently laughed while Wanda giggled, and Gwen took another bite of her own pancake.

“Heard he and his partner closed shop after the Frank Castle case,” Tony said off-handedly and Gwen stiffened then sighed.

“Yeah, uh, yeah,” she said softly, poking at her pancakes with her fork. “Um. If you know about Matt, I guess you know about Mr. Castle?” Tony hummed, sipping his coffee as he looked between her and Peter. Peter tilted his head slightly as he chewed on another strip of bacon.

“Actually, not that much,” Tony admitted. “Just the case highlights. Friend of yours?”

“Use to babysit his kids,” Gwen replied then glanced at Peter. “Lisa liked to talk science with Peter.” Peter blinked, looking away with a frown before realization crossed his face. He pulled up his tablet and quickly typed out a “ _Dinosaur?_ ” to Gwen and she nodded. Gwen put her fork down, pushing the plate away and sliding her mug of tea over.

“He was on tour a lot,” Gwen started. “Mr. Castle. I helped babysit the kids while Mrs. Castle worked, taught Lisa how to play the guitar to surprise her dad. Then, um, Central Park happened.”

“Central Park?” Steve prompted.

“Shoot-out between three gangs,” Tony supplied quietly. “Lot of civilian casualties, including Castle’s family.” Steve winced and Wanda looked horrified.

“Dad.” Gwen sipped her tea, her mouth suddenly dry as she remembered. “Dad tried to find Mr. Castle after. Don’t know what happened, but, um, Mr. Castle, he, um.”

“Went trigger-happy.” Tony finished his pancake, placing his fork down. “Not that I blame him, and, hell, he did New York a favor in getting rid of those gangs.” Gwen looked down at her tea – honestly, while she agreed with the gangs being gone, she whole-heartedly disagreed with the deaths. Peter tugged on her sleeve and signed.

“We go outside?”

“Sure,” Gwen said after a pause. “yeah, let’s check out Baltimore’s.” Peter nodded, waiting for her to finish her tea before they both got up from their seats and headed towards the elevator.

“Oh, wait, money,” Tony started.

“No need,” Gwen called out. “Just going to check out the drum kits, we’ll be back for lunch, bye!” The elevator doors closed and Gwen slumped against the wall. Peter signed at her, asking if she was okay and she nodded wearily. She hadn’t thought about Mr. Castle in a long time, not after hearing about his house burning to the ground, and she hoped he had found some closure.

The elevator doors opened, and they exited onto 46th, started towards Jon Baltimore’s when Peter pulled out his cell. He typed a message and showed it to Gwen.

“ _Want to try to do some web swinging?_ ”

There were a lot of abandoned buildings in Midtown, and they were able to access one of the larger buildings through the roof. Peter led Gwen into a wide-open floor and Gwen watched as Peter crawled up the wall. He showed her the web-shooter then jumped, shooting a strand and swung from one end of the room to the other.

“Oh,” she said in wonder and a bit of excitement. “So that’s what you meant.” Peter nodded with a smile from his seat on the wall, and motioned for her to try. They spent a good chunk of the time swinging around the room, in which they took note on how easy it was to get into before crawling back outside and sitting on the roof in silence for a moment.

“What are you thinking about, Peter?” Gwen asked, finally breaking the silence. Peter stared out at the city for a moment then looked back at her, pulling out his cell.

“ _We should help people_ ,” he wrote.

“Help people? Like, soup kitchen or taking down bad guys?”

“ _Bad guys._ ”

“Huh.” Gwen chewed on her thumbnail, studying Peter with narrow eyes. “Why?”

“ _Because when we can do the things we can, but we don’t, and something bad happens? They happen because of us._ ” Gwen read the words once, twice, three more times then looked away. They sat there for a while longer, looking over the city.

“We’re going to need to hide our identities,” Gwen finally said. “We’re going to be in so much shit if the bad guys know who and what we look like.” Peter nodded in agreement.

“What about the Avengers?” she asked, looking at him. Peter raised a finger to his lips and she raised her eyebrows. “Oh, a secret? How bold of you, Peter Parker.” He shrugged and typed.

“ _You think they’re going to let us swing through the city and fight bad guys?_ ” Gwen squinted then sighed and shook her head.

“No, no, they won’t,” she agreed. “Any ideas about costumes?”


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Excuse me, mind helping me?” a man asked, pulling Sam’s attention as he walked in. The man smiled and held out his hand. “I need your phone.” Sam took out his phone and handed it over, and the man handed it over to a couple.
> 
> “Take that phone with you,” he said. The couple smiled and walked away with Sam’s phone in hand, and Kilgrave turned to Sam with a smile. “Come on, let’s have a chat, shall we?”

It took Peter a good part of the day to figure how to get into JARVIS’s code without either Tony or the AI noticing it. Then he told Gwen to do her night preparation – brushing her teeth, listening to the latest song on her tablet – before tucking herself into bed.

“You’re going to film me the entire night?” she asked with a frown.

“ _Just 2 hrs sleeping_ ,” he wrote down on paper. “ _Can loop sleep part. Need be back b4 ppl wake up._ ”

“So, maybe before seven,” Gwen hummed. Peter shook his head and raised four fingers. “We have to be back before four? Why?”

“C-A-P,” Peter signed.

“Oh. Right.” Gwen sighed. “Fine, we can get back before four.”

Peter had been worried that his code would be noticed by Tony the first night they snuck out. When nothing happened as they swung through the city, his confidence grew. They managed to stop and capture a couple of car thieves, and someone attempting to break into an ATM before swinging back home.

“Holy shit,” Gwen whispered as she pulled her ski-mask off, grinning maniacally at Peter. “That was _awesome_.” Peter nodded, his own heart beating fast as he threw an adrenaline-filled grin back at Gwen because it really was awesome, and they did good for their first night.

If Clint and Natasha noticed Gwen and Peter being a little more enthusiastic in their morning practice, they merely raised an eyebrow. After breakfast, Maria had Gwen go down to help file paperwork, and Peter puttered down to Tony’s workshop. That’s when Peter saw that Captain America was in Tony’s workshop, and he paused, absently picking at his nail as he watched the two men talking. 

Tony had been slowly changing since Peter had wondered if they were mad at each other almost a week and a half ago, the billionaire being friendlier to Captain America, and the captain seemed, well, just as confused as Peter. He took a breath and stepped in, giving them a shy wave when Captain America and Tony turned.

“Peter!” Tony called out with a grin. “Excellent, going to need your tiny hands.” Peter shot Tony an offended look – his hands were _not tiny_. Captain America gave Tony a bemused look before nodding at Peter as he left the workshop. Peter blinked after the captain then gave Tony a curious look, the man merely waving it off.

Peter was going to have to ask Gwen what was going on, because there was obviously something going on if _he_ was able to notice it.

They began to nap after their third night of vigilantism, snuggled up on the couch in the common room, homework spread all over the coffee table before being woken up for dinner. They just chalked it up to the work, and not to the fact that they were sneaking out every night to fight crime.

“Are we going to have to give you two the sex talk?” Tony asked casually over dinner the next night. Peter and Gwen choked.

“What? Ew, what? No!” Gwen managed as Peter continued to die, Wanda reaching over to smack his back. “Mr. Stark, Peter’s like my brother, anything more than that is, is, ew!” The Avengers all laughed as Peter screwed his face in disgust because the thought of kissing Gwen?

Gross.

“It’d be like, I don’t know, Captain Rogers and Mr. Barnes kissing,” Gwen continued, and this time a few of the other Avengers choked. Sam and Clint both began to howl with laughter as Captain America and the Winter Soldier gave Gwen looks, the former with horror while the latter with mild amusement.

“That would never happen,” Captain America said, rubbing his face as his ears turned red. “Never, _ever_.”

“Look, Captain Rogers gets it,” Gwen stated, gesturing at the captain.

“Yeah, I mean, he’s only kissed four people,” the Winter Soldier agreed. “He’d be a lousy kisser, needs more practice.” Gwen paused, squinting at him.

“It’s kind of disturbing that you know how many people Captain Rogers has kissed,” Gwen said slowly. “Why do you know that, Mr. Barnes?” The Winter Soldier just shrugged in response, continuing to eat and ignoring everybody in the room.

Sam and Clint were practically falling out of their seats now while Natasha buried her face against Bruce’s arms, shoulders shaking. Bruce’s head was down, a hand over his mouth as he tried unsuccessfully to stifle his snorts, and Wanda had her face hidden in her hands. Captain America had buried his face into his hands as well, his ears bright red, and Tony. Peter glanced over at Tony and tilted his head slightly when he noticed that the billionaire was looking at Captain America with an expression he’d only seen when Uncle Ben looked at Aunt May.

A fond, almost loving expression.

_Wait. Wait a minute. Shut the front door._

Tony noticed Peter and raised an eyebrow at him, and Peter ducked his head, taking another bite of his pasta. He was _definitely_ going to have to talk to Gwen about this because if he was reading this right – and in this case it was so blatantly obvious even he couldn’t miss it – then Tony Stark was in love with Captain America.

.

.

.

“It was great seeing you,” Steve said as Sam packed his bag. Sam nodded, shooting the captain a grin before zipping up his bag, and the two headed towards the elevator.

“Well, I wasn’t really expecting this when I got the text ‘need your counseling skills help,’” Sam said drily and Steve chuckled. “Honestly, I thought it was an excuse for me to come up and talk about Tony.”

“Tony?” Steve blinked, looking at Sam with a small frown. “Why?” 

“Something’s going on between you two,” Sam pointed out. “You live in a building full of spies and doctors.” Steve sighed, rubbing his face as he looked down at the floor.

“Right, yeah,” Steve mumbled, hunching his shoulders slightly. Somehow the man can make his six-foot frame look small, most likely a habit from when he was still tiny. “I don’t know why, I thought Tony was still mad at me, and I guess he thought I was too. Now he’s being… weird.”

Sam snorted and Steve gave him a look.

“Are you still mad at Tony?” Sam asked.

“No! God, no, I haven’t, I haven’t been angry with him for a while now,” Steve quickly protested. “I’ve left him alone because I figured he was still angry, but now?” Steve shrugged, rubbing his hands together. Sam hummed.

“Maybe you should talk to Tony,” Sam said gently, “figure it out.” Steve let out a chuckle.

“Easier said than done, Sam,” Steve replied. “Tony doesn’t talk feelings, and I’m terrible at talking in general. You know he’s going to take everything I say wrong.”

“Yeah, because you try to spare his feelings and talk in circles, it’s no wonder he takes everything wrong,” Sam pointed out. “Steve, when you talk to him, give it to him straight. If he looks like he doesn’t understand, explain it to him.” The captain looked down for a moment took a deep breath and nodded.

“Yeah. Yeah, okay,” he agreed and Sam patted his shoulder then turned and grab his bag.

“Alright, I got to get going,” Sam said. “Let me know how the kids are doing and try not to blow anything up while I’m gone.” Steve chuckled as they walked to the elevator and down to the lobby, the captain giving Sam a hug before going back up. Sam walked out of the lobby and hopped into the Uber, pulling out his phone to check his emails.

He was still in the process of moving his work with the VA up to New York City now that he was a part-time Avenger. Tony had offered him a spot for full-time, but Sam wasn’t comfortable with just sitting around, doing nothing until a disaster happened.

Plus, even after the battle at Triskelion, Sam wasn’t sure if he wanted to get back into the fight. Disaster relief was one thing – he was Pararescue, fighting and helping save lives was engrained in him, but working with SHIELD and the fighting.

The fighting reminded Sam of how violently Riley had died.

Sam looked up when the Uber arrived at LaGuardia, and after paying the man, walked into the terminal.

“Excuse me, mind helping me?” a man asked, pulling Sam’s attention as he walked in. The man smiled and held out his hand. “I need your phone.” Sam took out his phone and handed it over, and the man handed it over to a couple.

“Take that phone with you,” he said. The couple smiled and walked away with Sam’s phone in hand, and Kilgrave turned to Sam with a smile. “Come on, let’s have a chat, shall we?”

.

.

.

“Hey, um, Ms. Potts?”

“Hm?”

“When are Captain Rogers and Mr. Stark going to confess their undying love for each other?” Pepper choked on her coffee as Wanda and Clint burst into laughter. Gwen made a face. “If they were trying to keep their high-school crushes on the DL, it’s not working. I mean, Peter noticed it and he’s terrible at spotting these sorts of things.”

Peter nodded with a sigh, giving a good impression of Eeyore. Wanda and Clint laughed harder.

“Well, Gwen, I don’t think Steve knows he wants to confess his undying love for Tony yet,” Pepper managed, clearing her throat.

“No, no he doesn’t,” Clint added with a giggle. 

“And Tony’s never moved on from the pulling pigtails stage,” Pepper continued, cautiously taking another sip of her coffee. Gwen squinted at Pepper.

“So what you’re saying is Captain Rogers is a dumb teenager and Mr. Stark is a five-year-old,” Gwen said slowly. Clint fell off his chair, rolling on the floor as he laughed, tears streaming down his face. Wanda was leaning against the counter, her face in her arms as she shook with laughter. Pepper took a minute to think about it.

“Yes,” she replied, “though they have had some… problems.”

“Well. If they insist on being dumb teenagers, we can get them to confess as dumb teenagers,” Gwen said with a huff. 

“I’ll help!” Clint said, jumping up with a manic grin.

“Me too!” Wanda added, looking extremely pleased. Peter just buried his face into his hands and sighed.

“Ms. Potts, Colonel Rhodes has arrived,” JARVIS suddenly announced, and Pepper straightened. Clint wiped the tears from his face just as the elevator opened and Steve stepped out. Gwen quickly turned, eyes wide as she looked at Steve.

“Hey, Captain Rogers, could you go and drag Mr. Stark out of the workshop?” she asked. “Someone just arrived and…”

“Rhodey is here, and you know how Tony is,” Pepper quickly said, immediately picking up on what Gwen was doing. “Hold on, use this to bribe him upstairs.” She poured a cup of coffee and handed it to the captain, and Steve smiled and nodded before heading back to the elevator. The moment the door close, Clint and Wanda broke down laughing as Pepper and Gwen gave each other a high-five.

Peter just sighed and buried his face into his hands.

.

.

Tony didn’t notice when the doors to the workshop slid open, too intent on a new Iron Man armor. He had been quick on the uptake when Peter shyly suggested the idea of using nanotechnology in one of SI’s green project, and automatically repurposed it to the armor.

He was going to have to talk to HR, see if he could get Peter into an internship down R&D, working with college students. As much as he would love to keep Peter up in the workshop and in Bruce’s labs, the kid should go out and socialize with normal smart people.

The scent of coffee drew his attention away, and Tony turned to see Cap looking over the holographic diagrams curiously, a cup in hand.

“Gimme,” Tony ordered, both hands out, fingers wiggling for the cup. Cap rolled his eyes with an amused expression as he handed the cup over, and Tony took a few gulps. “Oh, god, _yes_.”

“Rhodey’s here,” the captain said, “not sure if JARVIS told you.”

“He is?” Tony blinked. “JARVIS, why didn’t you tell me Rhodey’s here?”

“I have stated his arrival three minutes ago, Sir,” JARVIS replied primly.

“Uh, no? No, you did not,” Tony said with a frown, quickly getting up.

“Hey, uh, Tony?” He stopped, turning to give the captain a curious look. He watched as Cap rubbed his hands together with a nervous expression, opened his mouth and—

“Sir, I have found something of interest on an OsCorp private server,” JARVIS interrupted. Tony stiffened in surprise, turning back to his workbench, Steve following after him. Cup on the table, Tony watched as JARVIS pulled up displays featuring videos. One display pushed forward, widening before them. “I believe this is how Mr. Parker and Ms. Stacy received their enhancements.”

The video played, and Tony shuddered at the sight of spiders everywhere. Big ones, small ones, all brightly-colored and crawling about in their cages. A door opened, and Peter and Gwen peeked in before walking in, followed by two other kids, a boy and a girl.

“ _So creepy_ ,” Gwen said, looking around. “ _What do you think they’re doing here?_ ” Peter shrugged.

“ _Wow, they’re really going for the bright-colors-means-danger thing, huh?_ ” the unknown boy said, bending over one of the cages. “ _Hey, I didn’t know SI worked with them._ ” Tony jerked in surprise.

“We don’t,” he said aloud, frowning in confusion. “JARVIS?”

“That is correct, Sir. It would appear Stark Industries merely sold protective glass and some second-hand equipment to OsCorp,” the AI replied after a moment and Tony grunted, looking at the video as the four teens wandered through.

“ _Come on, guys, we should get back_ ,” Peter said, startling Tony with his voice. “ _Mr. Wakowski is going to—Ow!_ ” He jerked his hand up, looked down before shaking it with a grimace.

“ _Peter?_ ” Gwen and the other teens gave him a concerned look.

“ _Yeah, I think we should leave_ ,” he said, shaking his hand. “ _I think something bit me._ ”

“ _Ew, yeah, let’s go_ ,” Gwen agreed and the three quickly moved towards the door. As they walked, Gwen squeaked and slapped a hand on the back of her neck. “ _Oh god, I don’t want a spider STD._ ”

“ _Pretty sure spiders don’t have STDs_ ,” the girl said, shaking her hand as they opened the door and left. The video stopped and Tony exchanged a look with Steve.

“You don’t think,” Tony started slowly.

“Might have a third or fourth spider person?” Steve said. “Pretty good odds.”

“Shit.” Tony rubbed his face.

“Tony, you should head up,” Steve reminded, “Rhodey’s here.”

“ _Shit._ ” He loved his honey-bear, but the timing was awful.

“I’ll work with Maria and JARVIS, look into the other videos,” Steve continued as he picked up the cup and handed it to Tony. Tony automatically took it, letting Steve lead him out of the workshop. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep you apprised.”

“You better,” Tony growled then tilted his head. “By the way, what did you want to talk about before?” Steve paused for a moment then he gave Tony a small smile.

“Nothing important,” Steve replied.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “He doesn’t hate me,” Tony blurted out suddenly. “Rogers. Steve. Not for a while now.” Rhodey blinked at him then leaned forward, putting his glass on the table.
> 
> “So, he’s forgiven you for nearly killing his best friend,” Rhodey said slowly.
> 
> “Apparently?” Tony looked at the amber liquid in his glass for a moment then back at Rhodey. “And, well, turns out resentment is corrosive and I fucking hate it.”

“Honey-bear!”

Peter looked up with a confused frown to see Tony walk out of the elevator and straight towards Colonel Rhodes. The Air Force colonel smiled, getting up from his seat to give Tony a hug.

“You always give the best hugs,” Tony said, pulling back and patting Colonel Rhodes’ shoulder. “How’ve you been, Rhodey?”

“I’ve had better days.” They shared a tight smile before Tony turned his attention to him.

“Rhodey, you meet the kids?”

“Yeah, Pepper introduced me before she had to go down,” Colonel Rhodes confirmed. “So far I’ve learned that they’re both enhanced, Gwen’s a musical genius, and Peter’s a science genius.” Peter blushed at that – honestly he wasn’t a genius. The word genius was reserved for people like Bruce Banner and Tony Stark.

He was just smart. 

“Where’s Captain Rogers?” Gwen asked.

“Work called,” Tony replied with a shrug. Peter saw Gwen’s eyes narrow, her lips twitching in an aborted frown, and he hid a smile behind his hand. “Rhodey, you get settled yet? Your bags are still here, come on, let’s toss them into the guest room, and we can go drinking!”

“It’s two in the afternoon,” Gwen said slowly, blinking. “Isn’t it a little early to get tanked?”

“Don’t you two have an internship to go to?” Tony asked after a pause. Peter silently snickered, getting up from his seat. Gwen rolled her eyes, but got up as well. “Shoo. Go earn your pocket money.”

“What’s this? Tony Stark is being a responsible adult?” There was laughter in Colonel Rhodes’s voice. “Is the end of the world nigh?” Peter turned to glance back at them, silently laughing at the sight of Tony giving Colonel Rhodes a betrayed look.

“I’ve always been a responsible person!” Tony retorted.

“I beg to differ,” Colonel Rhodes drawled. “I don’t remember you having a responsible bone in your body back in MIT.” Gwen snickered and Peter laughed, both turning to waving good-bye to Tony and Colonel Rhodes before heading back to Wanda’s apartment to get changed.

.

.

“So. Kids.”

“Not mine,” Tony automatically said and Rhodey chuckled, raising both hands.

“Okay, okay,” he replied before sobering up. “What’s the story? Sounds like they’ve been living here for a while, and you haven’t gotten either the police involved so…?”

“It’s.” Tony hummed. “It’s a bit of a story. I wasn’t kidding about the drinking part.”

“The Wren then, and you can tell me all about it,” Rhodey said. “Let me drop my stuff off, and you go get a shower.” Tony looked down then nodded in agreement.

“JARVIS, set up a private room for me and Rhodey at the Wren,” Tony called out as they walked towards the elevators.

“Of course, Sir.”

A shower, a change of clothes and a drive later, they were snacking on fries and drinking craft beers.

“What’s happening with Fischer?” Tony asked, dipping his fries in malt vinegar. Rhodey let out a sigh and took a pull of his beer.

“Well, Brigadier General Hale and Talbot’s been going through Fischer’s files to see what he’s done,” Rhodey replied. “Don’t know what they’ve found yet, they’ve been keeping quiet about it.”

“More like keeping it quiet from you.” Rhodey nodded with a grimace and Tony rubbed his face. “Hill thinks we should be in the clear, what with us destroying HYDRA bases left and right around the world.” He took another pull of his beer, leaning back as he observed his best friend.

“He doesn’t hate me,” Tony blurted out suddenly. “Rogers. Steve. Not for a while now.” Rhodey blinked at him then leaned forward, putting his glass on the table.

“So, he’s forgiven you for nearly killing his best friend,” Rhodey said slowly.

“Apparently?” Tony looked at the amber liquid in his glass for a moment then back at Rhodey. “And, well, turns out resentment is corrosive and I fucking hate it.” He drained his glass, leaning forward to put it heavily on the table before picking up another fry.

“You’ve forgiven him?” Tony chewed on the fry, poking at his glass.

“I think so,” he replied slowly. “Steve anyway, don’t know if I can every forgive Barnes. I’ve been calling him Rogers since the fight, but.” Tony paused, looking up when their server arrived with another two glasses of beer and an order of nachos, picked up their empty glasses and left. He poked at his glass again.

“Yeah, I didn’t like it,” he admitted. “After a while, it just. It just hurt, you know? To keep him at a distance.” Tony hadn’t wanted to admit it until now that at the time it had been a punishment to Steve, keeping him away. Oh, he was still sore with Steve that he had kept the fact that Barnes killed his parents quiet, but now Tony thought he understood why.

Because if Rhodey had killed Steve’s loved ones while under mind-control, Tony would have done everything he could to keep Rhodey safe, even if it meant keeping it a secret from Steve.

He grimaced, picked up his glass and drained it.

“You okay, Tones?” Rhodey asked cautiously as Tony slammed the glass down.

“Peachy, platypus,” he replied with a strained smile. “Just peachy.” He pushed the glass to the side and raised a hand to get another glass. The server arrived with another glass, taking the empty one away, and Tony stared at the full glass.

“You think I still have a shot, honey-bear?” Tony asked quietly. Rhodey chewed on a nacho.

“You won’t find out until you try,” he said gently. 

.

.

.

“ _Helen, I need— oh. Well, hello there._ ” The toddler chewed on his finger, giving the man a solemn look as he sat next to another toddler, the girl asleep on the blanket. “ _What’s your name, little man?_ ”

“ _’m Peta_ ,” the toddler said around his finger. “ _’m tree years old._ ”

“ _Three years old, huh? Practically grown up now_ ,” the man said with a smile as he knelt down. “ _Can’t sleep, buddy?_ ” Peter shook his head before getting up and picking up his book. He toddled over to the man, giving him the book, and one of the man’s eyebrows quirked up.

“ _What’s this, a future scientist in the making?_ ” the man said with a chuckle as he opened up _‘Quantum Physics for Babies’_. Peter smiled and nodded.

“ _Hydwogen has only one electwon ‘n one pwoton_ ,” Peter said gravely, and this time both of the man’s eyebrows shot up.

“ _That’s right, Peter_ ,” the man said with a huge smile. “ _Now aren’t you a smart one._ ” Peter smiled happily, raising his hands up at the man, and the man picked him up, looking Peter over. The door opened and the blonde woman started, her eyes widening in surprise.

“ _Oh! Mr. Osborne!_ ” she said quietly, her eyes flicking down at Gwen still asleep then at Peter who continued to look at the man with solemn eyes. “ _Peter, are you bothering Mr. Osborne?_ ”

“ _No, no, he’s been good_ ,” Norman Osborne replied, smiling at Peter and drawing a giggle from the boy. “ _He’s a brilliant boy, Helen._ ”

“ _He’s Richard’s boy_ ,” Helen said with a wince as Peter cuddled up to Norman, and Norman reached up to pet Peter’s hair as the toddler yawned.

“ _Ready to fall asleep now, little man?_ ” Norman asked softly. The video paused, and Steve shared a look with Maria before looking back at the video.

“I thought Richard Parker was just a SHIELD agent,” Steve asked quietly at the paused video. He’d been going through the archive from the private server, having JARVIS look into who had access to it.

“He was,” Maria acknowledge, scrolling on her tablet. “Looks like he worked for OsCorp before joining the military.” Steve made a thoughtful noise as he pulled Richard Parker’s file on his own tablet.

The former SHIELD agent had gone to Berkley, majoring in biology before joining OsCorp. At the time his reason was to be near family, which Steve understood. He quit OsCorp to join the Army during the Gulf War, earning commendations with his unit before meeting his future wife Mary Fitzpatrick on a mission in Kuwait. Afterwards Richard left the Army to join SHIELD, working for the Science Division before transferring to field work.

“Quite the resume,” Steve noted.

“From what I’ve heard, Richard preferred field work over science,” Maria said, looking at Steve. “Biology and chemistry came naturally to him, but Richard liked the action.” Steve nodded before turning his attention back to the screen. Norman Osborne seemed fond of Peter, and Steve didn’t blame him.

“JARVIS, what can you tell me about Gwen’s mother?” Steve asked, looking at the woman in the video.

“Records show Ms. Stacy’s mother was Helen Stacy, formerly Helen Carmichael,” JARVIS reported and a picture of Helen appeared. “It would appear that she started as a lab assistant at OsCorp then was transferred to administration before leaving the company in 2003.”

“Because of the kids,” Steve hummed, leaning back in his seat. 

“Unfortunately, no, Captain Rogers,” JARVIS replied. “Mrs. Stacy was diagnosed with late-stage pancreatic cancer. Mr. Osborne had offered her FMLA leave so that she may start chemotherapy, but because of her late diagnosis and probability of life, Mrs. Stacy resigned. She passed two months later.”

“Oh, that had to be rough,” Steve murmured sadly. It had been tough when his father had passed, and his mother busy at work, but he had been lucky to have lived in a community where people looked out for one another. Nowadays, people in the city isolated themselves, and with Gwen’s father being a police officer, it had to have been extremely difficult.

He wondered how Captain Stacy made it work, with how great Gwen turned out.

Steve’s eyes flicked over to his phone then frowned at the time.

“Sam should have called or texted by now,” Steve murmured. “JARVIS? Has Sam arrived at D.C. yet?”

“Mr. Wilson’s airplane arrived at Dulles airport four hours and twenty-four minutes ago, Captain Rogers,” JARVIS replied. Steve’s frown deepened, and he picked up his phone, flicking open his contacts and dialing. The phone rang, rang then—

“ _H-hello?_ ”

“Who is this?” Steve demanded, abruptly standing up from his seat and stepping a few paces away. He could feel Maria’s eyes on him, her tensed silence.

“ _I-I, um, I’m sorry_ ,” the woman stammered. “ _I-He just, he just gave me the phone, told me to take it with us._ ” Steve could feel a void in his stomach as he realized what had happened.

“I see, thank you, ma’am,” Steve said faintly then hung up. “JARVIS, back up Sam’s phone then brick it. Pull up video of when he got to LaGuardia. Also have Nat and Clint come down.”

“Kilgrave?” Maria queried and Steve gave a sharp nod. “Shit.”

“What’s up, Steve?” Clint called out as he and Natasha entered the conference room.

“Kilgrave,” Steve replied tightly and instantly both SHIELD agents stiffened. “He has Sam.”

“Captain Rogers, I have the video,” JARVIS said. They all turned as a display popped up, playing the video of Sam entering the terminal. He looked like he was about to head to the counter when a man approached him, and Steve sucked in the breath as he recognized Kilgrave from the sketch. Kilgrave said something to Sam and Steve clenched his fist as he watched Sam easily hand over his phone, Kilgrave handing it off to a couple before having Sam follow him out of the terminal.

“Fuck,” Clint swore, stepping away and rubbing his mouth. 

“Track the car, JARVIS,” Natasha requested.

“I have tracked the car to the Midtown Tunnel. I believe they changed cars then,” JARVIS said. “There is an 80% chance that subject Kilgrave and Mr. Wilson were headed towards Hell’s Kitchen.”

“The PI,” Natasha hummed.

“Nat, Clint,” Steve said.

“Got it,” Clint responded, and with a nod from both spies they exited the room.

“JARVIS, where are the kids?” Steve asked.

“Mr. Parker is currently with Dr. Banner in the labs,” JARVIS replied. “Ms. Stacy is currently with Ms. Potts in her office.”

“Send a message to Bruce and Pepper about Sam,” Steve requested. “Don’t let the kids know.”

“I’ll let Barnes and Wanda know,” Maria said. “You go let Tony know.” With a nod she left the room. Steve gnawed at his thumbnail for a moment, mind racing. On one hand, he didn’t want to bother Tony while Rhodey was in town, but at the same time this was Avengers’ business.

“JARVIS, call Tony,” Steve finally said.

“ _Cap_ ,” Tony called out and Steve frowned slightly.

“Tony, hate to bother you, but we’ve got a problem,” he said.

“ _What is it?_ ” He could hear Tony’s tone change.

“Sam never made it back to D.C.,” Steve reported. “JARVIS pulled up the video, and Kilgrave was waiting for him at the airport.”

“ _Fuck_ ,” Tony swore. “ _Any idea where Kilgrave could have taken him?_ ”

“Probably Hell’s Kitchen. Clint and Natasha are following up on that,” Steve answered, slowly pacing.

“ _Need us to come in?_ ”

“No, no, not until we have confirmation.” Steve picked at a nail. “I would like you and Wanda to be around when I tell Peter and Gwen.” Tony went quiet, and Steve rubbed his hands together.

“ _You sure you want to tell the kids?_ ” Tony finally asked.

“Honestly, no, but at the very least Peter won’t appreciate being kept in the dark,” Steve replied. Tony hummed. “I think we should move them up to the Compound too, keep them out of danger.”

“ _Good idea_ ,” Tony agreed. “ _I’ll have someone set up rooms for them. Hey, Cap?_ ”

“Yeah?” Tony paused and Steve tilted his head slightly, curious to what the man wanted.

“ _Ah, never mind_ ,” Tony said. “ _See you later._ ”


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony put his water down and brought up a holo-graphic keyboard, pulling up JARVIS’s code. Steve leaned forward, watching as Tony squinted, scanning until he found something then stared in shock.
> 
> “Holy shit, he hacked JARVIS,” Tony whispered in awe. “Peter fucking hacked JARVIS!”
> 
> “Wait, what?” Rhodey got up to look, his eyes widening in surprise as he skimmed through the code. “Holy shit, the kid managed to hack JARVIS!”

“ _No sign of Sam_ ,” Clint reported grimly over the comms. “ _If they were headed into Hell’s Kitchen, it wasn’t to Jones’s office. Neighbor hasn’t seen her at all._ ”

“Got it,” Steve replied, setting his cup of tea down. He looked up when the elevator doors opened, and Tony and Rhodey stumbled in. He nodded a greeting to them, watching as Rhodey stumbled over to the sofa, Tony walking into the kitchen. “Come on back, we’ll need to set up a plan.”

“ _Got it._ ” Clint signed off, and Steve started when Tony patted his shoulder. He wasn’t use to Tony touching him all of a sudden, the warmth of his hand lingering on Steve’s shoulder.

It was strangely nice.

“Nothing?” Tony asked, opening the fridge to grab two bottles of water. 

“No,” Steve answered with a grimace. “Everything Kilgrave does is too erratic – he lets some people live, he has others jump off buildings. He works alone, he works with the mob. Why does he need Sam?”

“Hostage? An _‘I can get to you anytime’_ sort of deal?” Rhodey mused aloud. 

“What would be the point of that?” Steve asked, following Tony out of the kitchen. Tony handed a bottle of water to Rhodey before flopping onto the couch next to him. Steve took a seat across from them, taking another sip of his tea. “If it was to prove he could get to one of us anytime, Sam would have been another body in the city.”

“Well, that got dark,” Tony muttered. They looked up when the elevator doors opened, and Bucky and Wanda walked in. 

“Anything?” Bucky asked as they headed into the kitchen, Wanda putting a kettle on the stove. Bucky opened the freezer and pulled out some cookie dough to bake.

“No, looks like it was a bust,” Steve answered and Bucky muttered out a curse, setting up the cookies with a little more force than necessary. “Hey, JARVIS, would you tell Peter and Gwen to come to the common room?”

“Of course, Captain Rogers.”

“JARVIS found the other two kids, by the way,” Steve said then sighed. “And they’re missing.”

“What?” Tony blinked while both Bucky and Wanda gave him a sharp look. “What do you mean, they’re missing? How long ago did this happen?”

“About a few days after Gwen and Peter went on the run. JARVIS found the missing person reports for Miles Morales and Cindy Moon.” Steve picked up his tablet and handed it to Tony, pleased when Tony took it from him. Tony threw the two kids’ pictures up then took a drink of his water.

“Hm, they’re taking a while,” Wanda hummed, looking at the elevator as Bucky popped the cookies into the oven. “Hang on, I’ll go check on them. Keep an eye on the kettle?” Steve nodded as she walked towards the elevators.

“There are more missing kids?” Bucky asked, crossing his arms. 

“Missing spider kids,” Tony corrected.

“Jesus, really?”

“ _Stark? Do you know where the kids are?_ ” Wanda commed in worriedly.

“J?” Tony called out, taking another pull of his water.

“Mr. Parker and Ms. Stacy are in their rooms, Sir,” JARVIS replied.

“What he said,” Tony grunted.

“ _Well, I’m standing in Gwen’s room and she’s not here_ ,” Wanda shot back. “ _And neither is Peter._ ” Tony paused mid-sip, shared a look with Steve then sat up. Bucky turned to take the kettle off the stove when it began to whistle.

“JARVIS, display on Gwen’s room.” A display popped up and Steve could see Gwen lying on the bed, bopping her head slightly as she listened to some tune through her earbuds, fingers tapping away on the phone. “Maximoff, you in Gwen’s room?”

“Yes.” Tony put his water down and brought up a holo-graphic keyboard, pulling up JARVIS’s code. Steve leaned forward, watching as Tony squinted, scanning until he found something then stared in shock.

“Holy shit, he hacked JARVIS,” Tony whispered in awe. “Peter fucking hacked JARVIS!”

“Wait, what?” Rhodey got up to look, his eyes widening in surprise as he skimmed through the code. “Holy shit, the kid managed to hack JARVIS!”

Judging by the way the two MIT alums were staring in reverent awe, Steve figured they were impressed. His lips twitched up in amusement as he glanced over at Bucky, seeing a bemused expression on his face as he pulled the cookies out of the oven.

“Okay?” Wanda drawled slowly.

“Peter fucking hacked _JARVIS!_ ” Tony repeated, sounding gleeful now. “Fucking knew the kid was smart, and okay, yeah, the inserted code’s a little sloppy, but it fucking _works!_ ”

“How the hell did he manage to put that in without you or JARVIS noticing?” Rhodey asked with a frown.

“Not sure, but I’m totally going to find out!”

“ _Stark! Where are they?_ ” Wanda nearly shouted, pulling everybody’s attention, and, oh, right, the kids were not in the Tower. 

“Right. Okay. Fuck.” Tony quickly fixed the code, mumbling excitedly under his breath “Peter fucking hacked JARVIS!” before rebooting the AI. “JARVIS, where are the kids?”

“Mr. Parker and Ms. Stacy are currently out of the building, Sir,” JARVIS stated.

“Track their cells.”

“Mr. Parker and Ms. Stacy appear to be at the Empire State Building, Sir,” JARVIS replied after a moment. “Just outside of the 98th floor, to be precise.”

“Just outside the—what the fuck?” Rhodey frowned as Tony got up from his seat, hastily putting his water down. 

“Just hang around, people, I got this,” Tony called out as he started towards the balcony. “Wanda, I think I have their location, I’m going to go and bring them back.” Steve blinked, giving Tony a sharp look – it was the first time he’d ever heard Tony call Wanda by her first name. One of the armors flew up onto the balcony as Tony walked out.

“ _Do I want to know where they are?_ ” she asked after a pause, sounding just as startled.

“No, not really.” The armor slid on and Tony took off into the night sky.

.

.

It took him two minutes to arrive, and scanning the building, found the two teens stuck on the side. Zooming in, he let out an annoyed groan when he saw their homemade costume, recognizing them from some of the clothes they had purchased.

They were talking rather animatedly about something then stilled, tilting their heads together. The one in red stuffed then their phone into their sweater.

And then they both leapt off the building.

Tony would deny it to his death that he made any high-pitch shriek as the two teens rocketed down towards the city, shooting off after them. Webbing shot from both their wrists, and Tony pulled up for a moment to watch in wonder as they sailed easily through the sky.

_Well, son of a bitch._

He followed after the two, watching from a distance as they managed to stop a three-man car-jacking crew, tying them up with their webs, and calling the police. Gwen stuck a small baggie with a disposable camera on one of the men, and then they were off, slinging into the air. Tony maneuvered himself and when they swung to the apex, shot forward and grabbed the two mid-air.

“Did I not say curfew was at six?” Tony drawled as the two squirmed in his arms. They both froze, turning to look at him, and he nearly laughed at their masks. “And seriously? What the hell are you two wearing? Oh my god, JARVIS? Head count.”

“Colonel Rhodes, Captain Rogers, Sergeant Barnes and Ms. Maximoff are on the common floor,” JARVIS reported. “Dr. Banner is currently in his room. Agent Barton and Agent Romanoff have just returned to the building, and are currently on their way to the common floor. Ms. Hill is currently out of the building. Ms. Potts has gone home for the night.”

“Have Bruce come to the common floor,” Tony said. “The kids have some explaining to do.” Both teens slumped in his arms. 

Everybody looked up when Tony landed on the balcony with the two teens tucked under each arm, and JARVIS opened the door as he stomped in. Rhodey, Steve and Barnes were on the couch, cookies on the coffee table, while the others were still in the kitchen.

“Isn’t it a little early to go trick-or-treating?” Clint asked as he pushed away 

“No, but it _is_ a little early to decide to become _teenage vigilantes_ ,” Tony growled, face-plate snapping up to glare down at the two teens. “Anything you two want to say?” One of them reached up to yank their white mask off, and everybody went still as Gwen looked up at Tony.

“Peter’s web fluid works?” she said with a nervous smile. The teen in red who was now obviously Peter dropped his head, a hand smacking his forehead. Tony took a deep, calming breath as he let the two teens down, and Peter pulled off his mask, giving them all a guilty look.

“So, what, you two jumping off the Empire State Building—” Rhodey, Clint and Barnes swore while the others all straightened. “—was to test _tensile strength?_ ” Gwen blinked in confusion at the term then looked at Peter who just shrugged in response, looking down at his feet.

“I’m sorry, you two did _what_ now?” Steve said slowly and calmly, putting his cup down on the coffee table. Tony stiffened slightly at Steve’s tone, his eyes flickering nervously over to the others. Barnes was grimacing, actually scooting a few inches away from Steve. Bruce and Wanda took two steps back, using the kitchen island as cover and nervously eyeing the captain. Clint, Natasha, and Rhodey somehow managed to stand their ground though Clint and Rhodey winced at the tone.

Gwen coughed.

“I mean, uh,” Gwen started, shared another look with Peter, coughed again. “It’s not the first building we’ve jumped off?” Peter covered his face with both hands.

“I mean, we did, uh, practice, uh, here and there,” Gwen continued quickly, glancing at Peter. “Mr. Barton caught us once. Practicing. And stuff.”

“What?” Clint gave them a confused frown. “No, I would have noticed you and webs all over the—wait, is this when I found you two doing tumble practice in the gym?” Gwen coughed again and Peter looked down at his feet again.

“Do I want to know what they were doing when you found them, Tony?” Steve asked, still sounding rather calm. Tony suppressed the urge to shiver.

“Taking care of some car-jackers,” Tony replied then looked at Peter. “I’m assuming you programmed your phones to listen in on the police scanner.” Peter nodded glumly, giving off an impression of a sad, kicked puppy, and Tony closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Okay, Wanda and I are going to escort them to their rooms,” Bruce said. “How long are they grounded?” Both teens dropped their heads slightly, but seemed accepting of their punishment.

“For-fucking- _ever_ ,” Tony grounded out because flinging themselves off the Empire State Building without a parachute was Steve’s level of stupid. Even Clint had some iota of self-preservation when he threw himself off buildings, always making sure he had a good landing or one of the flyers around.

“A month,” Clint answered thoughtfully, “and no Internet.”

“That’s—” Gwen paused then sighed. “Yeah, that sounds about right.” Peter nodded morosely as they were led towards the elevators.

“We should up the timeline and take them to the Compound,” Steve said, when the elevator doors closed. He picked up his cup up and got up from the couch. “If they want to fling themselves off tall buildings and get into fights, I’d like to make sure they can stick their landings.”

“I’m sorry, are you _seriously_ encouraging their _soon-to-be-over vigilante spree?_ ” Tony asked sharply, stepping out of his suit. The suit walked out to the balcony and flew off back to Tony’s workshop. “Did you not hear the part where I said they are grounded _for-fucking-ever?_ ”

“I did,” Steve replied calmly, “but, Tony. You, Bruce and Sam have all said it, Peter’s got a stubborn streak that’s as bad as mine, and Gwen’s actually pretty stubborn herself. They’ve already decided to use their powers and what they’ve learned in self-defense to fight.

“And, hang on, we’re not their parents or their guardians,” Steve continued, raising a hand to stop Tony. “After the whole Kilgrave issue is resolved, you know they’re going to continue jumping off buildings and fighting car-jackers. Most we can do is ask them to not do that while they’re here with us, and even then, well.” Steve shrugged.

Tony had never wanted to punch Steve in the face so bad, because, fuck him, Steve was right. How long have the kids been going out and doing stupid vigilante shit, he’ll have to find out later, but Peter and Gwen were definitely going to keep fighting.

Was it their fault, them being heroes that inspired the kids to do just that?

“Shoot, I forgot to tell them about Sam,” Steve added suddenly with a groan, raising a hand to rub his forehead.

“Well, you were kind of stuck on the part where two teenagers like to fling themselves off tall buildings,” Clint said lightly. “Usually that’s your job.”

“I don’t always fling myself off tall buildings. Sometimes I toss myself out of airplanes and heli-carriers.” Barnes groaned, covering his eyes with his hand as Clint and Rhodey snorted, Natasha’s lips curling up. Tony couldn’t help the chuckle that fell from his lips, and caught a pleased look from Steve before his expression turned bland.

“Let them know in the morning,” Natasha said. “It’s late, and mom and dad are still mad at them.” Rhodey chuckled while both Barnes and Clint snickered. Tony grumbled under his breath, flopping down next to Rhodey.

“Which’s one’s mom?” Rhodey asked curiously.

“Steve,” Barnes, Clint and Natasha chorused. Steve just sighed, his eyes flicking over to Tony with a small faint smile, and Tony smiled back.

.

.

.

“We’re going where?” Gwen asked, feeling both surprised and dismayed. “The-the Compound? Isn’t that somewhere in upstate nowhere?”

“Ye-es,” Captain Rogers said, drawing out the answer, “but it’s safe in upstate nowhere. The self-defense lessons you two are doing now is fine here, but if you want to continue fighting in the city, the Compound is better suited.” Gwen stared at the captain for a moment, exchanged a look with Peter then back at Captain Rogers. This was something she was not expecting over breakfast.

“You’re going to let us keep fighting?” Gwen asked, this time shocked. “I-I thought—”

“We were going to forbid you two from going out and be vigilantes?” Mr. Stark finished. “I wanted to, but Cap vetoed.” Steve sighed, turning to look at Tony.

“I did not,” Captain Rogers replied, crossing his arms. “I was making the rational assumption that Gwen and Peter are going to go out and punch bad guys in the face after their punishment is over.”

“That’s… true,” Gwen admitted because it was true. Peter was already figuring out how to bypass JARVIS again so the AI wouldn’t let Mr. Stark know they were out and about in the city. Mr. Stark snorted and grumbled something under his breath, and she caught Captain Rogers giving the billionaire an amused smirk as Mr. Stark drank his coffee.

God _damn it_ , Ms. Potts was right about Captain Rogers. This was going to be tougher than she thought.

“Hey, about Sam,” Mr. Stark suddenly said, pulling her attention back. “Um, we have a problem.”

“What about Sam?” Gwen asked worriedly. Captain Rogers grimaced, straightening.

“He didn’t make it back to D.C.,” Captain Rogers began. “From the security footage we got, Kilgrave was waiting for him at the airport terminal.” Gwen tensed, exchanging another look with Peter, her thoughts spinning and connecting as she looked back.

“That’s why we’re going to the Compound,” Gwen said. “You’re keeping us out of the city so we’d be safe while looking for Sam.”

“Smart girl,” Mr. Stark replied with a nod. “We thought he’d be taking Sam with him to Hell’s Kitchen, but that was a bust. Here’s hoping Sam can get a message to us.” Mr. Stark slurped his coffee.

“How did Kilgrave know Sam was going to be at LaGuardia?” Gwen asked. Captain Rogers and Mr. Stark both went still at the question.

“Shit, that’s a good question,” Mr. Stark grumbled. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

“Do you want to—” Captain Rogers started but Mr. Stark waved a hand.

“No, I can find out at the Compound. Come on, daylight’s burning people, and I have suits to make,” Mr. Stark said. Captain Rogers gave Gwen and Peter a look then nodded.

Gwen had a feeling there was something about the suits.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Hey, Mr. Stark, do you like Captain Rogers?” Gwen suddenly asked out. Tony was really glad he wasn’t drinking his coffee then. Rhodey, unfortunately, was, and he turned in time to do a spit-take into the sink. Tony stared at the girl and Gwen blinked at him innocently while Peter laughed silently, Rhodey laughing between fits of coughing.
> 
> “Well, yeah, I like him just fine,” he replied slowly. Gwen rolled her eyes.
> 
> “Not that kind of like. Like-like,” Gwen reiterated. “Oh, wait, let me be blunt – are you in love with Captain Rogers?”

“Welcome home, Jessica Jones.” 

Sam stood in the living room, hand on his piece and watching as the woman looked at Kilgrave then at the armed guard and Sam before back.

“My home never had armed guards,” she said flatly.

“Oh, that’s Hank and Sam,” Kilgrave said dismissively. “Say hi, Hank and Sam.”

“Hi, Hank and Sam,” Sam and Hank chorused, and Kilgrave glanced back.

“Sorry,” Kilgrave said, turning back with a shake of his head. “I slip sometimes. Don’t misunderstand, Hank’s here because he’s paid. A lot. Safety first. He’s going to search you, by the way.” Jessica scoffed but relented, Hank searching her as Sam looked on before backing off, satisfied that Jessica wasn’t carrying.

“And Sam?” Jessica asked. Kilgrave glanced back and smirked.

“Just proving a point,” Kilgrave replied. “The man’s a bona fide Avenger.”

_Part-time Avenger_ , Sam wanted to snark, but his mouth wouldn’t work. Jessica’s lips thinned.

“They’ve been asking about you,” Jessica said.

“Yes, and about you, but mostly me.” Kilgrave shrugged, turning to walk back into the living room. “I don’t blame them, I am _highly_ interesting, but they do have our boy.”

“Our boy?” Jessica asked, her question the same one that rose in Sam’s mind. “What boy?”

“Oh, I’m sure you remember him,” Kilgrave said. “Yea big, brown hair, big doe eyes, watched you punch his uncle through a fridge and break every bone in his body.” Jessica blanched, looking away, and Sam glanced at Kilgrave then back at Jessica. He could read the guilt in the way she held her before she straightened, scowling at Kilgrave.

“And how is he _‘our boy’_?” Jessica slowly circled the sofa as Kilgrave flopped back onto the sofa. 

“Because he’s just like you, Jessica Jones,” Kilgrave answered with a smile, “and I love you.” Jessica scoffed and Sam wished like hell he could do the same because, seriously? Peter is _‘his boy’_ because he loves her? 

What a fucking nut-job.

“And Sam here,” Kilgrave continued, nodding at him, “he’s going to help me get Peter back.”

_I’m what now?_ Sam blinked at Kilgrave, watching as Kilgrave smiled up at Jessica.

“Think of it, Jessica, we can have a family here,” Kilgrave said. “You, me, and Peter.”

“I doubt he’d be willing to play family,” Jessica replied coldly. “I think he’s safer wherever he is right now.”

“Oh, with the Avengers?” Kilgrave hummed then clapped his hands. “Because he and all kids like heroes. Well, you’re a hero. Sam’s a hero. Teach me your ways.”

“What?” Sam mentally echoed Jessica’s sentiment. “Are you serious?”

“Very serious,” Kilgrave said and smiled.

.

.

.

“Tell me about your friends Miles Morales and Cindy Moon.” Gwen and Peter both stopped in surprise, looked at each other then back at Tony and Rhodey. “Yeah, I know how you got your powers, and I also know that those two kids were with you.” Rhodey walked in through the doors of the Compound first, just far enough for Tony and the kids to talk.

“Yeah, they were there,” Gwen confirmed, biting her lip as she followed Tony and Rhodey. “Not sure what I can tell you about, I mean, we’re just a bunch of dumb kids.” Tony gave her a flat look and she shrugged.

“Alright, how about this? They’re both missing.” That got both teens to perk up in surprise.

“Wh-what? No way.” Gwen chewed on her thumbnail nervously. “Mr. and Mrs. Morales must be freaking out.”

“You know Miles well then?” Tony asked and both kids nodded, giving him worried looks.

“Mr. Morales is—was in the same precinct as dad,” Gwen began. “I think he’s a detective now? And, Mrs. Morales, she used to work as a nurse with Peter’s aunt.”

“Use to?”

“They moved a couple years ago?” Gwen hummed. “Miles’s new place just put him right in range of our school, but his parents had to put in a transfer.”

“Geez, I get the feeling you two know everybody.” Rhodey commented and Tony nodded in agreement before they stopped before a room. 

“Alright, one of you gets this room, the other has the room next door,” Tony said. “Rhodey and I are down the hall. Drop off your stuff, and I’ll show you where the kitchen is.” The two opened the doors, glanced in each room then played rock-paper-scissor. Tony snorted in amusement as he and Rhodey headed towards their rooms to drop off their bags. 

The plan had been a weekend at the Compound where they would see what the kids could do in a fight, and Tony could start prototyping their suits. Tony had only seen them take on car-jackers, and even then, that had been nerve-wracking. What if the next set of car-jackers had guns on them?

Tony took a deep breath before stepping out of his room, meeting up with the kids and Rhodey. He gestured at them to follow.

“So. What about Cindy.” This time Gwen scowled angrily.

“She’s a horrible condescending bitch, and I hope she goes and dies in a fire,” she replied, crossing her arms and looking away. Both Tony and Rhodey’s eyebrows shot up in surprise while Peter sighed and lifted his tablet.

“She’s really smart,” Peter typed out. “She’s number one in school.”

“Because she cheats with her super memory powers,” Gwen grumbled.

“Eidetic memory?” Tony asked, and Peter nodded, rolling his eyes at Gwen.

“She liked to rub it in Peter’s face,” Gwen continued, “like ‘that’s right, Parker, I’m better than you, I’ll be in MIT while you’re going to community college.’”

“She never said that,” Peter replied, shaking his head with a sigh as Tony quirked as eyebrow and Rhodey snorted.

“That sounds familiar,” Rhodey commented lightly, and Tony turned to scowl at Rhodey. Gwen just muttered another _‘bitch’_ under her breath, obviously annoyed at the thought of Cindy Moon. They entered the kitchen, Peter taking a seat at the island while Tony, Rhodey and Gwen walked in. Tony started the coffee, Rhodey leaning against the counter, and Gwen opened the fridge, taking out two bottles of sodas. 

“We have friendly competition on who’s number one in school,” Peter continued, tapping away on his tablet. “She scores higher than me academically—”

“Because she’s Cheaty McCheaterFace,” Gwen grumbled, putting the soda next to Peter before taking a seat next to him.

“—but outside school, I’m better,” Peter continued, puffing up slightly. Gwen perked up.

“Oh, yeah, Peter always wins in the science projects and math competitions,” Gwen agreed. “Ha, take that, Cindy!” Peter sighed and rubbed his face with his hands as he gave Gwen a look. Both Tony and Rhodey chuckled, Tony pouring them a cup of coffee. Rhodey took his, spooning in a couple teaspoons of sugar and adding a little bit of cream.

“Any idea where they would have gone or who might have taken them?” Rhodey asked, stirring his coffee and taking a sip. Gwen squinted and Peter frowned.

“Don’t know about Cindy, but Miles might lay low with his uncle,” Gwen said slowly. “Mr. Morales isn’t a fan, his uncle’s been in trouble with the law and stuff.” She grimaced as though she remembered something. Peter sipped his soda, eyes darting about before he began to type.

“OsCorp?” Tony frowned while Rhodey and Gwen blinked at him. “Cindy’s mom’s a scientist there, and Cindy likes genetic research. Reads a lot of Dr. Banner’s work.”

“Huh. Really.” Tony took a gulp of coffee. “She’d go back to the scene of the crime? Brave kid.”

“Hey, Mr. Stark, do you like Captain Rogers?” Gwen suddenly asked out. Tony was really glad he wasn’t drinking his coffee then. Rhodey, unfortunately, was, and he turned in time to do a spit-take into the sink. Tony stared at the girl and Gwen blinked at him innocently while Peter laughed silently, Rhodey laughing between fits of coughing.

“Well, yeah, I like him just fine,” he replied slowly. Gwen rolled her eyes.

“Not that kind of like. _Like_ -like,” Gwen reiterated. “Oh, wait, let me be blunt – are you _in love_ with Captain Rogers?” Tony continued to stare at the girl and Gwen groaned, rolling her eyes. Rhodey was doubled over now, his coffee on the counter as he wiped tears from his eyes.

“Oh my god, you two are worse than high-schoolers! Kindergarteners at least will tell people when they like or hate a person,” Gwen grumbled. 

“That, that is the best thing I’ve heard all day,” Rhodey choked out between giggles. Peter buried his face in his hands, dying of silent laughter. Tony glared at Rhodey which Rhodey ignored, the colonel lowering himself onto the floor laughing.

“Look, Mr. Stark, we can tell you’ve been eyeing Captain Rogers in a like-like way,” Gwen said in a matter-of-fact tone. “The other Avengers can tell you like Captain Rogers in a like-like way.”

“What?” He could feel himself go cold – the team knew he lo— _liked_ Steve that way? “Like-like? Really?”

“Oh, well, if it’ll make you feel better, we can tell you’re _in love_ with Captain Rogers.” Gwen drew out the word ‘love’ and Tony grimaced, Rhodey howling now as Peter seemed ready to fall off his seat and join Rhodey on the floor. “Are you going to tell him?”

“What? No! Why the— _no_ , we are not having this conversation!” Tony sputtered out. “Nope! No! Get your sodas, we’re going to the workshop and looking at suits. Shut up Rhodey!” He spun on his heels and marched towards the elevators, ignoring Rhodey’s howls of laughter.

God damn kids.

.

.

.

“It doesn’t make sense,” Happy grumbled as they walked to the apartment. “Gus is a good guy, he would never do anything against SI or Tony.”

“I know, Happy, but he may have been compromised,” Steve replied, sharing a look with Natasha. “He wouldn’t be the first one.” They walked up to the apartment, and Happy raised a hand to knock on the door, only for Steve to stop him.

“Let me.” Happy and Natasha on either side of the door, Steve knocked. There was no sound and he looked at Happy.

“He should be home,” Happy answered with a frown.

“Nat?” The spy moved in front of the door, tools in hand and quickly there was a click as she unlocked the door. Happy and Natasha pulled out their weapons, and with a nod, Steve opened the door. 

The apartment was clean, perhaps a habit instilled from his time in the military. They quickly moved in, searching the small apartment.

“Ah, shit,” Happy swore. Natasha and Steve glanced at one another before Natasha quickly moved on to clear the place as Steve moved to where Happy was. Happy was at the door of the bathroom, looking a bit green, and Steve stepped in to look.

August Rivera laid in the tub, the needle still in his arm.

“This isn’t right. He was clean, the drug test was just last week,” Happy said quietly. “He wouldn’t start using again.”

“Kilgrave must have told him to do that,” Natasha said as she arrived, gun holstered. “Figured we’d come looking for a leak, so he needed to clean up loose ends.” Happy muttered out a few curses, walking away.

“Happy, call the police,” Steve called out, stepping away from the bathroom. “Nat, any sign that Kilgrave was here?”

“No.” Steve sighed and rubbed his face.

They had watched the video of Kilgrave walking up to one of the security officers, chatting up to him. JARVIS enhanced the audio enough for them to hear Rivera informing Kilgrave that Sam was leaving the next day for LaGuardia. 

“Thanks, you’ve been a great help,” Kilgrave had said, patting Rivera’s shoulder. “You should take the day off, enjoy it with your drug of choice.”

“We need to find Sam,” Steve said worriedly.

“I know.” Natasha sighed. “Except Kilgrave isn’t giving us much to work with.”

“True.” Steve scrubbed a hand through his hair.

“You should get going to the Compound,” Natasha said. “Happy and I will deal with the cops.”

“You sure?” Steve asked and she nodded.

“Oh, and head up to Jamaica before you go up,” Natasha added. “Turns out Captain Stacy’s department, they put up the money for a storage unit for all of their stuff. I think they’re hoping that when Gwen comes back, she’d still have their stuff.”

“What about Peter?”

“Up the road, at a different facility. Looked like May Parker has storage unit there, paid through the end of the year.” Natasha hesitated. “Not sure what’s there, apparently their landlord threw everything out after May died and Peter disappeared.”

So Gwen still had her stuff and Peter had nothing. Just the thought made Steve hurt for the boy.

“Yeah, I’ll go check it out.” Natasha nodded and Steve left, catching a cab back to the Tower. Bucky and Wanda were packed and waiting for him when Steve arrived, the former having brought Steve’s bag.

“I fucking hate cars,” Bucky grumbled and Steve rolled his eyes as they put their bags into the trunk.

“Suck it up, jerk,” he replied.

“What are these keys?” Wanda asked, showing Steve the two keys. “Maria dropped them off.”

“Ah, didn’t think about that. I’m going to stop by a couple of storage units, hopefully pick up a couple things for the kids.”

“Storage units?” Steve nodded as they climbed into the car, and he started it up. One quick explanation, and Steve could feel both Wanda and Bucky’s depressed state.

“Poor kid,” Bucky muttered, looking out the window.

“I hope we can find something,” Steve said. “I’m pretty sure some of Peter’s important things will be at Gwen’s storage unit, he did stay with them for a while.” Bucky grunted and Wanda nodded. The drive didn’t take long, and soon they were at the storage unit, Steve opening it up.

They looked through the unit, trying to find what could be Gwen and Peter’s stuff. Wanda managed to find a guitar case with Gwen’s name on it, along with stickers of both known and unknown bands plastered all over. Peter, on the other hand, was almost impossible to figure out, and Steve was starting to lose hope in finding anything of the boy when he spotted a camera.

It was a digital camera and fumbling a bit, Steve managed to turn it on. There were pictures of landscapes, other high school kids grinning and smiling, and—

Peter, smiling with a couple who Steve quickly realized were Ben and May Parker.

“I think I found something,” he called out, not looking away. In a second, Wanda and Bucky were at his side, looking over. Steve hit the next button and chuckled at the sight of the three Parkers making faces into the camera, laughing in the next.

“Peter will be happy,” Wanda said softly and Steve nodded before turning the camera off.

“Come on,” he said, walking out of the storage unit and locking it up.

The drive up was quiet, Bucky keeping in contact with Natasha. The police had arrived, and of course, Rivera’s death would be ruled as a suicide. Steve glared at the car in front of him, anger churning in his gut at the thought of another innocent life ruined because of Kilgrave.

Even with JARVIS’s help, Clint and Maria struck out on where Sam could be. Fortunately, there were no reports of bodies that resembled Sam, so at least the man was still alive. Steve took a deep breath, slowly blowing out and glanced in the rear-view mirror to see Wanda looking back at him worriedly.

“We’ll find him, punk,” Bucky said and Steve nodded.

They reached the Compound, Steve driving into the underground garage. After parking, Bucky grabbed both his and Steve’s bags, nodding for Steve to take the guitar case and camera. Both Bucky and Wanda then walked into the Compound, and Steve grabbed the guitar case and camera, closing and locking the trunk after.

“JARVIS, where are Peter and Gwen?” Steve asked he had headed to the elevator.

“Common floor, Captain Rogers, in the dining room,” JARVIS replied. “They are currently working on homework.” Steve nodded, waiting for the elevator to reach the common floor. He stepped out and made his way towards the dining room, spotting the two tapping away on their tablets, and Rhodey in the living room, looking through paper work.

“Hey,” he greeted. The teens and Rhodey looked up, the latter giving a wave while the former two looked down. “I, uh, I picked up a couple of things? I hope these are yours.”

Gwen and Peter stared at Steve before they got up from their seats and walked over, taking the items from him. Gwen quietly set the case down on the ground and opened it, reverently touching the guitar inside while Peter took his camera, blinking rapidly as he turned it on. After a moment Peter put his camera down on the table, turned around and threw his arms around Steve, hugging him tight. A moment later Gwen was hugging Steve too.

“Thank you, Captain Rogers,” Gwen said quietly, her voice trembling slightly. “Thank you so much.” Peter nodded into his chest, his arms tightening around Steve, and Steve couldn’t help but hug them both.

A faint movement caught his eye, and Steve glanced up to see Tony staring at him, cup in hand and his other hand in his pocket. His eyes glanced down at the camera and guitar case then nodded before quietly turning around to leave.

“Too good to join in our hugging fest?” Steve called out teasingly. Tony stopped while the two teens pulled away, both of them wiping away their tears. Rhodey glanced up from the couch, looked between Steve and Tony then smirked.

Steve wasn’t sure what that smirk meant.

“Nah, think I’m more interested in dinner,” Tony replied, pulling Steven’s attention back. “It’s about time for baby spiders to eat.”

“Yeah, uh, yeah, w-we can eat,” Gwen stammered out, not looking at Tony as she sniffled.

“Take out okay?” Both kids nodded, still overcome by the gifts, and Steve couldn’t help but reach out, patting Peter’s head and rubbing Gwen’s back. Gwen sniffled again, but gave Steve a watery smile, and Peter closed his eyes, rubbing his head when Steve pulled away.

Tony was watching with a soft expression when Steve glanced back at him, and Steve suddenly thought about the last conversation he and Sam had.

Right. He should have a talk with Tony.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “JARVIS, why are we locked in the closet?” Steve asked, looking up at the ceiling.
> 
> “Ms. Stacy would like you and Sir to, and I quote, _‘be dumb teenagers and confess already_ ,’ Captain Rogers,” JARVIS answered drily and with a trace of humor. Steve squinted at the ceiling then looked at Tony who looked rather annoyed.
> 
> “Confess?” Steve said slowly.
> 
> “Confess,” Tony said flatly. “What a little shit.”

“Hm.” Tony made a note on his tablet then looked back, watching as the two spider-kids bounced around the training yard as Rhodey and Barnes shot at them. “Okay, suits seem to be holding up pretty well.”

“I can’t believe you finished them already,” Steve said then narrowed his eyes, giving Tony a suspicious look. “Did you sleep at all?”

“Yup,” Tony replied.

“Sir has been awake for 54 hours now, Captain Rogers” JARVIS answered with a disapproving tone. Tony rolled his eyes, ignoring Steve’s glare and his AI.

“Look, we’re going to be letting these two out into the wild when we get back into the city, and I want to make sure they’re not going to get killed,” Tony grumbled and Steve squinted at the kids’ suits.

“It looks like spandex,” Steve pointed out. “Spandex doesn’t really stop bullets. I should know.” Tony rolled his eyes, his lips twitching up in amusement.

“It’s Kevlar mesh,” Tony retorted. “It’s super thin and can withstand bullets, but won’t do much against knives—”

“Is that why you had Bucky fight them one-on-one?” That had been an interesting practice, watching Peter and Gwen sparring with Barnes. Gwen’s danger sense wasn’t always online and she was slashed and poked at more than Peter. Tony had to figure out how to make their suits more durable against knives, bouncing ideas with both Bruce and Peter.

“Yup.” Tony smiled a bit when he heard Gwen laughing as the training stopped, and they walked up to talk to Rhodey and Barnes. Gwen pulled her hood back and took off her mask, grinning and talking to Barnes while Peter hung back a bit, Rhodey talking to him. He was glad that Peter took to Rhodey so quickly then turned to head out. “Oof, coffee time.”

“No, nap-time,” Steve said.

“Care to join me? I sleep better if I’m not alone.” Tony managed not to grimace once the words left his mouth, but Steve just blinked and frowned, his face wavering between confusion and disapproval. “No? Then coffee.”

“Mr. Stark, Mr. Stark!” Gwen called out, almost dancing towards him and Steve. “The suits and AIs are awesome, thank you so much!”

“AI?” Steve piped up, raising an eyebrow at Tony and Tony rolled his eyes.

“You think I’m going to let the kids out without supervision?” Rhodey and Barnes both snorted while Gwen rolled her eyes. Peter just laughed silently.

“The AIs, they need names,” Gwen said then hesitated. Tony gave her a look. “Can, uh, can you change my AI to a man?”

“Uh, sure? Like JARVIS?” Gwen fidgeted.

“I-I was hoping more like, um, Queens?”

Male voice from Queens. Wait. Oh.

“I can dig around for sound clips of your dad,” Tony said and Gwen’s eyes turned misty.

“Thanks, Mr. Stark, that would be great,” she replied. “Like. I mean. Thank you.” He shrugged, rubbing the back of neck then looked at Peter.

“And you? Any request?” he asked. Peter shook his head.

“Peter has named me KAREN,” Peter’s AI announced happily through the speakers and Peter blushed, shuffling his feet as Tony raised an eyebrow and Gwen giggled.

“ _Better than Suit-Lady_ ,” Peter typed out. 

.

.

.

Talking to Tony took a back seat when Steve finally managed to convince Tony to take a nap. He still wasn’t sure what the engineer was doing, especially after the ‘sleeping better’ comment.

Was it a come-on? That was Tony coming onto him, right?

Steve will be the first to admit he had absolutely no idea when people flirted with him, only realizing it after the fact. Natasha had been tickled pink the first time Steve realized someone had been trying to pick him up at a café. It wasn’t his fault that he still thought of himself as the scrawny kid from Brooklyn, where no one would look twice at him.

But what was going on with Tony? Tony had been angry with him, angry that Steve hadn’t told him about Bucky, about Howard and Maria’s deaths, the idea that Steve had chosen Bucky over him. He had still been angry with Steve, right up until the kids came to the Tower. Now suddenly Tony was acting like when the Avengers all started to live in the Tower, a tentative olive branch between them after they both apologized to each other for their words on the Helicarrier.

It was confusing.

He thought about talking to Bucky about it, but he didn’t want to deal with his friend’s teasing, and, really, Steve could see Gwen and Bucky getting along. Peter stuck with Rhodey and Wanda, though he could see the teen slowly warming up to Bucky.

“You and Captain Rogers might like Postmodern Jukebox,” Gwen was saying as she strummed her guitar, an empty plate and bottle by her side. “They reimagine modern songs to, like, 40s and 50s version, so, I don’t know, might be better.”

“Maybe,” Steve admitted as he headed into the kitchen to make himself a cup of tea. “I’ve tried listening to some of Tony’s songs, and, well, um, it’s not good?” Gwen snickered while Rhodey laughed.

“Like, what songs?” Gwen asked curiously. Steve hummed thoughtfully.

“Last one I heard, I think it was, um, guns and something.”

“Guns ‘n Roses? Okay, JARVIS, play Guns ‘n Roses _‘Sweet Child o’ Mine.’_ ” The song came on and Steve nodded, wincing slightly. He was not a fan of the singer’s voice and the guitar set his teeth on edge. “Okay, JARVIS, that’s enough. Let’s play Postmodern Jukebox’s version.” A woman’s voice began to sing the song, and Steve blinked at how different the song was. 

“This one’s better,” Bucky commented and Rhodey chuckled when Steve nodded in agreement.

“Oh, JARVIS, wait! Switch to Postmodern Jukebox’s version of _‘Stay With Me!’_ ” Gwen called out. “That one’s my favorite.” The song stopped and another woman began to sing, and suddenly Steve was back in the dance hall. He could see Bucky in his dress uniform, slow dancing with one of the girls, and Peggy sitting by his side, watching them.

“You still owe me a dance, Steve,” Peggy said quietly, turning to look at him with a soft smile.

He blinked his eyes, and the vision was gone. Bucky and Rhodey were looking at him, the former with a knowing expression while the latter gave Steve a concerned look. Thankfully neither of the teens noticed, Gwen babbling on about music as Peter tapped away on his tablet with a thoughtful look.

“Yeah, I think I’ll listen to them,” Steve said, clearing his throat. “Music sounds pretty swell.” Peter looked up, glancing at Steve, Bucky and Gwen then tapped something out and showed it to Rhodey. Rhodey hummed.

“Tomorrow morning, I think,” Rhodey answered then frowned. “The others haven’t had any luck on finding Sam. Now that both your suits are ready, maybe you can get your feet on the ground and help look.” Peter and Gwen nodded as Steve grabbed a mug and an Earl Grey tea bag, pouring the boiling water in. There was more tapping and Rhodey raised an eyebrow then chuckled.

“Well, we’re see if that’ll work,” Rhodey replied with a nod. “Go ahead.” Peter grinned and got up, puttering over to Gwen to get her attention before the two ran off somewhere. Steve looked at Rhodey and the colonel shrugged.

“Tony’s asleep?” Rhodey asked, getting up and grabbing the plates from the coffee table. Bucky also got up, grabbing both his and Gwen’s plates and bottle before the two of them headed into the kitchen.

“Yeah, though for how long is anyone’s guess,” Steve said with a sigh. “Hey, uh, Rhodey? Is, um, is something going on with Tony?” He could feel both Rhodey and Bucky look at him curiously, and Steve took a sip of tea.

“Why do you ask?” Rhodey finally asked.

“He’s been, um, nicer?” Bucky made an amused noise and shook his head.

“Oh, Stevie,” he huffed, ruffling Steve’s hair before he wandered off. Steve frowned at Bucky’s back then looked at Rhodey, and the colonel huffed as well.

“Tony’s just figured some things out,” Rhodey reassured Steve. “Don’t worry about it.” He patted Steve’s shoulders then left, leaving Steve alone in the kitchen. Steve took another sip of his tea and wondered.

.

.

Tony showed up for lunch, looking much better after getting a few hours of sleep. They all went out to a small Mexican place nearby where people left them alone to eat in peace. Rhodey told a couple stories of his and Tony’s time at MIT, making both teens laugh, and Steve couldn’t help but tease Tony on some of his more questionable actions.

“Don’t do what I’ve done, kids,” Tony cautioned.

“Can Peter even get drunk?” Gwen asked curiously.

“They’re minors, no drinking,” Steve instantly said when Tony opened his mouth. 

“Captain America, I would never suggest that,” Tony said mockingly, a hand at his chest. “How could you think of me like that?”

“You once thought it was a great idea to piss off Loki, and then he threw you out the window of the Tower.”

“Okay, fair, I’ll give you that.” Rhodey sighed and shook his head in exasperation.

It was when they returned to the Compound that things were finally explained.

“Sir, there seems to be an issue with maintenance closet 2B-3,” JARVIS announced as they entered.

“Uh, okay? Wait, yeah, that’s next to the—wait, what’s the issue?” Tony waved the group away and began walking towards his workshop. “Come on, Cap, keep up.” Steve blinked then quickly followed after Tony, confused as to why Tony wanted him to follow.

“You know, Gwen’s dad Captain Stacy?” Tony said as he walked to the closet and eyed the door suspiciously, “he sounds a lot like that comedian, uh, Dennis, Dennis-something. I’m thinking I’d get hi voice, make it sound more Queen-ish, whatever that means.”

“Maybe run it by Gwen first?” Steve replied, watching as Tony opened the door with a frown then stepped in.

“Oh, what the fuck, who’s been in here?” Tony exclaimed and Steve walked in to look. It was obvious that someone had made a mess of the closet, but why was th—

The door slammed shut, causing the two Avengers to jump in surprise. Steve immediately walked over to the door, trying the handle to find it locked.

“JARVIS, opened the door,” Tony ordered. There was a pause.

“I cannot open the door, Sir,” JARVIS replied. “It would seem the connection to the door has been disabled.”

“Disabled? Who would—” Tony narrowed his eyes. “Peter.”

“Peter’s pretty smart,” Steve said with a chuckle and Tony scowled. “I think we’ve been set up.”

“Yeah, I noticed,” Tony growled. “Why are we being set up?” Steve shrugged, giving the door a once-over and hummed before glancing at Tony.

“Want me to—”

“No, no, you are not allowed to break down the door. Only Hulk and Thor are allowed to be because it’s Hulk, and Thor’s either an idiot or a troll, I can’t tell with him.” Steve let out a soft laugh, turning to lean back against the door, crossing his arms.

“JARVIS, why are we locked in the closet?” Steve asked, looking up at the ceiling.

“Ms. Stacy would like you and Sir to, and I quote, ‘be dumb teenagers and confess already,’ Captain Rogers,” JARVIS answered drily and with a trace of humor. Steve squinted at the ceiling then looked at Tony who looked rather annoyed.

“Confess?” Steve said slowly.

“Confess,” Tony said flatly. “What a little shit.”

“ _Tony._ ” Tony rolled his eyes and settled back against the wall, crossing his arms and pointedly not look at Steve. Steve sighed, rubbed his face then straightened up, turning to look at Tony

“Tony, we should talk actually.”

“About?”

“Why you’re being nice all of a sudden,” Steve said. Tony looked at Steve with a blank expression, and Steve ran a hand through his hair. “I-I— Were you—?” He let out a heavy sigh, feeling his ears pinking up as he tried to think of how to ask the question. Tony stared at Steve for a moment then groaned.

“Why am I being nice to you all of a sudden.” Tony blew out a breath. “Oh, fuck it, fine. I love you.”

“I love you too?” Steve replied in confusion. Of course he loves Tony, but he also loves Bucky and Wanda and the others, and, hell, Gwen and Peter were quickly worming their way into his heart. Tony sighed and rubbed his forehead.

“No, Steve. I _love_ you.”

Okay?

Wait. _Wait._

_Oh._

“Um.” Steve stared at Tony then looked down at the ground, feet shuffling. “O-oh. I-I never—I didn’t know—”

“Didn’t know I was bi?” Tony finished drily. “Yeah, dad and Obie weren’t fans, kept my dating of boys out of the news. I was a little more discreet later on, stuck with women more out in public because people won’t freak the fuck out and it won’t tank SI stocks.” Steve slowly nodded.

“And, uh, you like me? That way?” he stuttered out. “I—Aren’t you—you’re still mad at me.” This time Tony looked down, a hand rubbing his face.

“No, not, uh, no, not anymore.” Tony paused then scowled at Steve. “Still fucking hate Barnes.” Steve let out a chuckle before he swallowed it, getting back on topic. He rubbed his hands together as he studied Tony before letting out a sigh.

“Would you. Um, well, would you let me think about it, Tony?” Steve asked. “I, uh, I’ve never thought of you that way. Uh, before. Or, uh, or any other guys. Not, uh, not like that.”

“Not even Barnes?” Steve could feel his face screw up.

“No! God, no! Bucky’s my brother, the idea of kissing him has never crossed my mind, ever!” Steve answered heatedly, shaking his head. “I can understand why, Bucky’s always been good-looking, and, yeah, I can—I mean, I appreciate both the male and female forms, but, ugh! No, never Bucky.”

“Okay, okay, I get it, you and Barnes are a no-go,” Tony interrupted then quirked an eyebrow, his lips curling up slightly. “You appreciate the male form?”

“Male _and_ female,” Steve reiterated then looked away, cheeks heating up. “Art school, drew a lot of naked people. Worked for a photographer, did the lighting for, uh, pin-up. Pictures. Stuff. And modesty is a myth in the Army. I just.” Steve paused then sighed.

“I just never thought I’d be with anybody.” He shrugged. “Even the idea of being with Peggy was a bit of a, uh, a pipe dream because, well, never thought I was, you know, good enough. For her. Or for anyone. Really. Um.” Tony blinked and Steve shrugged again.

“You know my history, I was sick all the time, and girls never looked twice at me,” Steve explained. “And after the Serum, well, they only saw at this—” He gestured at himself “—and not, uh, not me.”

“Wow, you have some _serious_ self-esteem issues.” Steve rolled his eyes.

“I wasn’t much of a catch back then and I knew that. Now, people just see Captain America. I feel like if they saw me, if that saw Steve Rogers, they’d find him, well, boring. Obsolete.” Tony studied him then pushed away from the wall, moving into Steve’s personal space. Steve couldn’t help the way he tensed up, ready for a fight, and he took a steadying breath when Tony took his hand into his own. He could feel the callous fingers, the small nicks and scars, and—

“Your hands are really nice,” Steve blurted out. Tony let out a choked laugh, his hand squeezing Steve’s, and Steve could feel his ears burning now when he realized he had said it out loud.

“My hands _are_ very nice, and I don’t mind showing you what else they can do,” Tony all but purred at Steve. Steve looked away, hiding his face under his other hand as he felt himself burn in embarrassment. “But, yeah, that’s as far as I’ll go for now. You are still thinking about it.”

And wasn’t that the truth, because, wow, really? Tony was in love with him?

“Yeah, uh. Yes,” Steve replied lamely. Tony chuckled then pulled away.

“Alright, now let us out of here, JARVIS.”

Five minutes later, Gwen opened the door, Peter peeking around her, and gave them a questioning look before shooting Tony a very pointed look. Tony rolled his eyes then pointed his finger at Peter.

“You little shi— _jerk!_ You were in on this?” Peter shrugged, shooting Tony a small smile while Gwen smirked before they both merrily skipped away. Tony growled out a few choice words under his breath then stalked out of the closet, and Steve followed him onto the common floor. 

Gwen flopped down on the couch between Rhodey and Wanda while Peter took a seat on the floor next to the coffee table, still printing out pictures from the digital camera. Bucky was mixing something up in the kitchen, looking up to smirk at Steve and Tony,

“Were you all in on this?” Tony demanded. Wanda’s shoulders were shaking, her head down while Bucky was outright grinning. Rhodey had an excellent poker face, merely raising an eyebrow at Tony.

“In on what, Tones?” Rhodey asked. “The part where you finally manned up and confessed?”

“I hate you all,” Tony declared.

“JARVIS, let the team know that Wanda won the confession bet,” Rhodey added serenely and Wanda let out a choked cheer, raising a fist in victory. Tony threw his hands up in disgust and stalked out, most likely back to his workshop. Steve watched him leave then looked back in time to see Gwen, without looking, raise her hands towards Rhodey and Wanda. Both Avengers gave her a high-five in response and Steve couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

All of their friends were jerks.

.

.

.

“Have I mentioned that I hate cars?” Bucky grumbled as he got into the passenger seat.

“I know, Buck,” Steve replied, glancing in the rear-view mirror as Wanda, Peter and Gwen got in, fastening their seatbelts. “I know.”

“Why do you hate cars, Mr. Barnes?” Gwen asked as Steve put the car into drive and pulled out of the garage for the long back to the Tower. 

“High probability of car accidents, due to use of cell phones. Higher probability of attacks due to high profile status,” Bucky began to list, voice flattening. There were startled looks from both teens and Steve suppressed a sigh – neither Peter and Gwen had been around Bucky when he was in Winter Soldier mode and it could be a bit unnerving. 

“Oh. Okay then,” Gwen said faintly. Wanda snorted, ducking her head to stifle her giggles, and Bucky seemed to shake off the Soldier, glancing back to shoot Wanda a scowl. Steve was pleased that Peter didn’t flinch from Bucky’s look.

Peter and Gwen fell asleep about an hour into the drive, and Steve couldn’t help but glance fondly at the two sleeping teens slumped against one another, Wanda dozing as well. He’d just gotten off the FDR and onto 1st Avenue when Peter and Gwen suddenly jerked awake, Gwen snapping her head to look.

“Captain, watch out!” she yelled right before two cars collided into their own, sending them spinning, the car flipping onto the side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs referenced in this chapter -   
> Postmodern Jukebox "Sweet Child O' Mine": https://youtu.be/kJ3BAF_15yQ  
> Postmodern Jukebox "Stay With Me": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ex8NBCuwcdA


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jessica Jones arrived a minute later, and Peter noticed Kilgrave still eyeing the Chinese food suspiciously as Jessica Jones and other two began to eat.
> 
> “Oh, for Christ sakes, I didn’t poison the food,” Jessica Jones said with a scoff. She ate a bite of food from Kilgrave’s plate. “You can’t ingest Sufentanil.” That seemed to settle the matter, Kilgrave finally beginning to eat. Peter licked his dry lips, taking a sip of juice before looking down at his plate. His danger sense was going crazy, and Peter hoped he didn’t wince in front of the adults. He poked at his food, glancing cautiously at the adults, and nibbled on a piece of chicken.
> 
> “Hm. It’s not bad,” Kilgrave said as he ate.

Peter coughed as he pried his eyes opened to find the car on its side then looked up to see Gwen slumped on top of him, out cold. He blearily looked past to see Wanda climbing out of the car window then noticed the Winter Soldier also making his way out. Captain America wasn’t moving, and Peter shakily rubbed his head, squeezing his eyes shut as the ringing in his ears started to fade. 

He managed to unbuckle himself then reached up to check Gwen when something slammed into the roof of the car. With a silent screech Peter watched as the Winter Soldier tore the roof open before reaching in and roughly pulling him out.

“Careful, careful!” a voice called out. “He’s already bleeding, I don’t want him to bleed more!” Peter’s breath froze, eyes widening as he recognized the voice.

Kilgrave.

The Winter Soldier put Peter onto his feet, and Peter looked up to see Kilgrave walking towards him, Wanda just standing there with a blank expression. His hands touched Peter’s face, checking him over, and Kilgrave made an annoyed sound when he touched Peter’s ribs, Peter flinching back slightly.

“Just bruised, my boy,” Kilgrave said with a smile. “We have a med kit in the car, I’ll fix you up in the car. Come on, we’ve got to get going, mom’s waiting.” He turned towards the waiting car then looked back when Peter didn’t move.

“Peter, come here,” Kilgrave ordered. Peter took a step then stopped, his hands gripping his shirt tightly, and Kilgrave sighed. “Peter, if you don’t come here, I’m going to have to order the big guy over there to blow Captain America and both your girlfriends’ brains out. I’m sure you wouldn’t want that.”

Peter shook his head and walked over to Kilgrave. The man beamed, ruffling Peter’s hair affectionately before leading him away towards the car. Peter got into the car, glancing at the man in the driver’s seat then looked towards Kilgrave.

“Peter, phone,” Kilgrave said, holding his hand out. Peter automatically reached for his phone then stopped, cringing when Kilgrave leveled a look at him. He quickly handed the phone to the man, and Kilgrave nonchalantly tossed it out of the window before looking at Wanda and the Winter Soldier.

“Take care of them,” Kilgrave called out and got in the car. “Let’s go, Hank, time to go home.”

.

.

Steve blinked into consciousness to find the car on its side and his left leg pinned. With a grimace he looked around to realize Bucky, Wanda and Peter were gone, Gwen still unconscious in the back of the car.

“Take care of them,” he heard someone say through the ringing in his ears. There was the sound of a car driving away, and he looked up in time to see red smoke on the roof of his car before it was completely ripped off. Red smoke surrounded Wanda, and Bucky aimed the gun at Steve.

“We have a medical kit in the trunk,” Steve stated, staring at the two. Wanda and Bucky stared back and Steve continued. “You need to _take care_ of Gwen’s injuries first.” They were still for a moment, and Steve had a moment of fear that it wasn’t going to work, that their willpower wasn't enough, when they finally moved towards the back of the car, the red smoke disappearing around Wanda and Bucky holstering his weapon.

Wanda opened the trunk while Bucky moved to unbuckle Gwen, gently carrying her out. They quickly went to work, looking over Gwen’s wounds and bandaging her up before Bucky got up and stalked over to Steve. He managed to pull the dashboard up just enough for Steve to slide out, and Steve grunted when Bucky checked his leg.

“It’s broken,” Bucky said woodenly.

“Yup, I figured that,” Steve groaned, dropping his head back onto the ground. “Help me set it before my healing kicks in, Buck.”

“Negative, should not set without an X-ray.” Steve groaned again, though he didn’t argue. It didn’t take long before he heard the sound of both Iron Man and War Machine flying in, landing with heavy thumps, and a car squealing around the corner.

“Steve!” Tony shouted, taking a few steps towards them, and Steve’s heart nearly leapt out of his chest at his name. Bucky moved, gun instantly drawn and aiming at Tony, and Steve shifted.

“Bucky, no!” Steve commanded as Tony lifted a hand, repulsor whining. “You still need to _take care_ of me and Gwen.” He enunciated the ‘take care,’ hoping it would pull both Tony and Bucky’s attention, and he let out a breath when they lowered their weapons. 

“Cap,” Clint said cautiously, Natasha behind him.

“Wanda,” Steve said, sitting up and gaining the young woman’s attention. “Take Gwen to Clint’s car, Bruce can _take care_ of her.” Wanda was still for a moment then nodded as she gently picked up the girl with some help from her powers, and carried her to the SUV. Clint frowned, glancing at them before cautiously heading towards Steve.

“Bucky, help me up,” Steve continued.

“Negative,” Bucky replied.

“Yeah, I’m with Manchurian Candidate, which is a first,” Tony said, taking a step forward, pausing when Bucky glowered at him. “Your healing’s probably kicking in about now—”

“No kidding,” Steve managed because, fuck, he could feel his bones slowly knitting.

“—so let me carry you back,” Tony finished. Steve huffed, took a deep breath then looked at Bucky.

“Bucky, go with Wanda and Gwen,” he ordered. “I need you to _take care_ of them, make sure they get to the Tower safely.” Bucky went still then stiffly nodded before heading towards the SUV.

“The hell?” Rhodey voiced as he watched Bucky get into the car.

“I’ve got them,” Clint said, heading towards the SUV as well. “Nat—”

“I’ll stay,” she confirmed then looked at Rhodey.

“Yeah, I’ll stay too,” Rhodey replied. “Get on comms, I want to know what the fuck happened.” Both Natasha and Rhodey immediately moved to check on the other passengers, a few of the bystanders already trying to help.

Steve grunted when Tony picked him up, his leg was throbbing painfully now, and he wrapped his arms around Tony, dropping his head on Tony’s shoulder as he bit back a curse. 

“Hold on, Steve,” Tony said then launched them into the sky. It wasn’t the most comfortable flight he’s had, but soon Tony was at the Tower, landing on the roof and carrying Steve to Medical.

“You know, I wasn’t expecting this until at least the third date,” Steve managed. The face plate slid up and Tony looked down at Steve with a grin and a chuckle. Bruce was waiting for them at Medical, one cot prepared with the enhanced anesthetics. Tony stomped over to the cot, gently putting Steve down then stepped back.

“Wait, not yet,” Steve said, raising a hand when Bruce move to put a line in. “Bucky and Wanda.”

“What?” Bruce looked between him and Tony.

“Mind whammied,” Tony answered tensely.

“Ah.”

“JARVIS, connect me to the comms,” Steve called out with a wince.

“Of course, Captain Rogers.” There was a pause.

“ _Steve?_ ” Natasha called out.

“Yeah, made it back to the Tower,” Steve said with a groan. “What’s the damage, Nat?”

“ _EMTs, FDNY and NYPD are all here_ ,” Natasha reported. “ _And the passengers of the cars are all saying it wasn’t their fault._ ”

“Kilgrave,” Bruce concluded with a grimace.

“ _Kilgrave_ ,” Natasha acknowledged. They looked up when the door opened, Clint carrying Gwen into Medical, Bucky and Wanda following him with blank expressions.

“Gwen’s still out, but I’m pretty sure she’ll be fine,” Clint said, placing the girl on a cot. “JARVIS, run a scan.”

“Yes, Agent Barton.” There was a moment of silence as JARVIS scanned the girl, Clint moving to get bandages and antiseptic. Wanda and Bucky stood by, observing both Gwen and Steve. “Ms. Stacy has a head laceration and a mild concussion, Agent Barton. Otherwise, she is in good health.”

“Thank god,” Clint murmured as he cleaned Gwen’s wounds. Steve turned to look at Bucky and Wanda.

“Don’t worry, you’ve _taken care_ of us,” Steve said calmly to them. “Thank you.” There was a pause as Bucky and Wanda seemed to relax then—

“Mother-fucking son-of-a- _bitch_ , I am going to fucking _murder_ that asshole,” Bucky snarled as he stalked a few feet away. Wanda looked horrified, swearing under her breath as she began to pace, wringing her hands. Steve dropped his head back with a groan, letting Bruce finally put a line in. The pain began to recede, and he blew out a breath.

“Bucky, stay, I’m going to need you to help,” Bruce said.

“What?” Tony glanced between Bruce and Steve. “Why is he—Oh. Oh, shit, are you serious?”

“Yup, reset my leg,” Steve grunted.

“Kilgrave was there,” Wanda said quietly and the room tensed. “I-I think Peter went with him to protect Steve and Gwen.” Guilt settled into Steve’s chest at the thought of Peter trying to protect him. That should never happen, it was their job to protect Peter and Gwen.

“Come on, set my leg,” Steve said. “Now we’ve got a kid and an Avenger to find.”

.

.

.

“Jessica! Jess?” Kilgrave shouted as he led Peter into the house, meeting a man and a woman there. “Where is that girl?”

“She went for a walk with Sam,” the woman said.

“Right, forgot about that.” Kilgrave let Peter’s hand go, and Peter stood there, looking at the two people then at Kilgrave as the man wandered into the living room and flopped onto the seat. “Peter, come here. Let’s have a chat.”

Peter hesitantly walked over, shooting worried looks at the man and woman – Servants? Slaves? Red shirts? – before standing next to Kilgrave. Kilgrave raised an eyebrow, gesturing for Peter to say something, and Peter shook his head, pointing to his throat.

“What? What’s this? You can’t talk?” Kilgrave frowned and Peter shook his head. “Well, that’s annoying. Does Sammy-boy know why?” Peter shrugged and Kilgrave’s frown deepened then he turned to look at the man and woman.

“You two, look out the window until Jessica returns,” Kilgrave ordered. “Keep your eyes open. Peter, there’s paper and a pen in the kitchen. Get it and come back.” Peter nodded and walked to the back to get the items, glancing around before heading back. The man and woman were staring out the window as Kilgrave sat there humming.

“Peter. Sit,” Kilgrave said, patting on the sofa. Peter walked over and took a seat. “Tell me, do you want to be a hero when you grow up?” Peter blinked then gave Kilgrave a thoughtful look before shrugging. He picked up the pen and gave Kilgrave a questioning look, watching as Kilgrave nodded.

“ _I’m not special like you, I don’t know how to be a hero_ ,” he wrote. Kilgrave hummed.

“Maybe you’re a different kind of special, Peter,” Kilgrave said. “I’ve seen your school records, you’re smart. And Sammy, he’s told me that you work with the Tony Stark. That guy, he doesn’t suffer fools, and if you’re working with a genius like him, that means you’re just as brilliant.”

The compliment coming from Kilgrave was not welcomed, but it was still embarrassing. Peter ducked his head, fidgeting with the pen before peeking up at Kilgrave with a small smile. That seemed to dumbfound Kilgrave, the man staring at Peter for a moment.

“Your room!” Kilgrave suddenly exclaimed, jumping up and startling Peter. “Come on, upstairs! It use to be your mother’s room, but I think I have everything a boy like you would like!” He grabbed Peter’s hand and excitedly led him upstairs and into a small bedroom. It had been set up for a kid like him, with a bed, a bureau, a desk, science posters on the walls and in the corner a mountain of Legos.

He walked in, looking around with wide eyes and reached out to touch the desk, the bed before crossing over to the Legos. Peter had to admit, he wavered on the Legos because he loved them, but at the same time, it was from Kilgrave.

“You like this, don’t you?” Peter looked back at the man and hesitantly nodded – he couldn’t lie but it was a decent room. Kilgrave beamed at him, walking over to pat his back. “Peter, my boy, this is just the start.” He led Peter back downstairs where the man and woman were still staring out of the window. Kilgrave sat down, gesturing for Peter to take a seat.

“I’ve got great ideas, Peter,” Kilgrave said, pulling Peter close and looking fondly at him. “Think about it – we do some good here and there, get rid of people who annoy us, all is good.”

_Uh, no. All is not good._

“She’s here, she’s returned!” the woman suddenly cried out. Immediately the man and woman began to rub their eyes as Kilgrave shot up from his seat and headed to the front door. The door opened and Jessica Jones stomped in with a bag, Sam following after her with a bag as well. She stopped, her eyes flickering over to Peter before back at Kilgrave.

“Where’ve you been, Jessica?” Kilgrave demanded then looked at the bags. “What’s that?”

“Chinese. For everybody,” Jessica Jones replied. “What’s he doing here?” Kilgrave glanced back as the man and woman walked over to take the bags from Jessica Jones and Sam. Peter looked at KIlgrave then at Sam, and Kilgrave nodded. He quickly ran over to hug Sam, not minding when the man didn’t hug him back – he knew the Avenger would be incapable of doing anything outside of Kilgrave’s orders. 

“Sammy, she just went to get Chinese for dinner?” Kilgrave asked, narrowing his eyes.

“Yes,” Sam replied woodenly.

“Okay.” Kilgrave nodded. “Now tell me why Peter hasn’t said a word, it’s rather insulting.”

“Trauma,” Sam answered as Peter turned to peek at Kilgrave, “and we believe that your order stuck.”

“My order stuck?” Kilgrave blinked then looked at Peter with a frown before realization crossed his face. “Ah, I did tell you to be quiet, didn’t I? I’m surprised you haven’t said a word since. Well then.” He walked over, turning Peter to face him with a fond look. Peter heard a sharp breath from Jessica Jones.

“You’re a good kid, Peter,” Kilgrave announced. “Come on, you can talk to me now.” Something that Peter hadn’t notice before seemed to release around his throat and he coughed.

“H-hi,” Peter said and Kilgrave blinked at him then grinned, looking between Sam and Jessica Jones.

“Look at that, Sammy, he speaks!” Kilgrave laughed in delight, pulling Peter in for a hug and ruffling his hair, and Peter suppressed the urge to pull away. “You know, Sammy here’s been teaching me on how to be a hero?”

“R-really?” Peter asked quietly, looking up in surprise. Kilgrave? Being a hero? How hard did Peter hit his head? Maybe he fell into some twisted alternate universe.

“Yes, really,” Kilgrave said with a nod. “Well, him and Jess here. What do you think, you, me and Jess, a heroic team.”

“L-like the Avengers?” Peter glanced at Sam and Jessica Jones. Jessica Jones’s expression was pinched as she looked at Kilgrave. “I-I don’t think we can do what they do.”

“True, true, you’re still young, but.” Kilgrave smiled. “At least we’d get rid of a lot of bad guys here in the city, make sure they don’t hurt anybody else. Right? Oh! We should find that Castle guy, Jess, I’m sure he’d make a good team member.” 

“Hm.” Jessica Jones shrugged then turned to the man and woman. “Go set up dinner, I’m going to drop my bag.”

“Ah, she’s great, isn’t she,” Kilgrave said with a sigh as Jessica stalked out of the room. “Pretty sure she poisoned the food. Did she poison the food, Sammy?

“No,” Sam replied.

“Huh. Really? Oh, well, I guess she wouldn’t do that, she’d kill the help and that’s not what heroes do.” Kilgrave nodded to himself, leading Peter into the dining room. “Sam, go help Hank.” Sam nodded and left the house, Peter looking after him worriedly before taking a seat at the table, the woman pouring Peter a glass of juice. Jessica Jones arrived a minute later, and Peter noticed Kilgrave still eyeing the Chinese food suspiciously as Jessica Jones and other two began to eat.

“Oh, for Christ sakes, I didn’t poison the food,” Jessica Jones said with a scoff. She ate a bite of food from Kilgrave’s plate. “You can’t ingest Sufentanil.” That seemed to settle the matter, Kilgrave finally beginning to eat. Peter licked his dry lips, taking a sip of juice before looking down at his plate. His danger sense was going crazy, and Peter hoped he didn’t wince in front of the adults. He poked at his food, glancing cautiously at the adults, and nibbled on a piece of chicken.

“Hm. It’s not bad,” Kilgrave said as he ate.

“Jesus, you’re such a food snob,” Jessica Jones then swore as her lo mein dropped onto her. “Ah, shit.” She got up, waving away the woman to head into the kitchen. A moment later, the woman seemed to faint, causing Peter to jerk up in alarm. The man also went down, his head hitting the table. There was a surprise grunt and Peter turned to see Jessica Jones grab Kilgrave, stabbing something into his neck.

“Get out of here, kid,” Jessica Jones ordered as Kilgrave fell unconscious in her arms. Peter swallowed hard, shaking his head.

“Sam,” he croaked out. “Need to get Sam.”

“Back door,” she replied. “Saw him there. Get him and go!” Peter nodded and scampered towards the back, bursting out of the door. Sam jerked to look at him in surprise, and Peter immediate ran up to him, grabbing Sam’s hand and practically yanking him towards the garage.

He stopped when he saw Jessica Jones with Kilgrave over her shoulder and Hank aiming a gun at her. Sam moved to get his gun, and Peter grabbed his hands.

“Home,” Peter begged, getting Sam’s attention. “I want to go home. Please?” He let out a yelp when a shot rang out, turning to see Hank drop to the ground. A man appeared, gun still drawn, and he eyed both Jessica Jones and Peter. Sam jerked to unholster his gun, and Peter used his strength to keep the man from drawing it.

“Go,” Jessica Jones said when she noticed them. “Take him and go. I’ve got this.” Peter swallowed then grabbed Sam’s hand, practically dragging the man into the garage.

“Home,” Peter repeated, looking up at Sam. “Let’s go home, Sam.” Sam’s eyes flicked back towards Jessica Jones, swallowed hard and rubbed his forehead with the heel of his hand then opened the car door.

“Let’s go home,” Sam said shakily, starting up the car. Peter peeked out to see the man and Jessica Jones still standing there as Sam drove away.

Throughout the drive, Peter kept glancing back to see if Kilgrave escaped, if Kilgrave had sent anyone after them. He also kept an eye on Sam, waiting for the man to pull the car around, and head back to Kilgrave. Peter wanted to let out a sigh of relief when they crossed into New York City and headed into Midtown. Sam pulled up before the shuttered garage door of the Tower, and punched in a code. The door opened and he pulled in, parking the car and turning off the engine. 

That was when Peter noticed Sam was breathing hard, his hands clenched around the wheel, sweat beading on his forehead.

“Sam?” Peter whispered worriedly.

“Need to go back,” Sam gritted out, squeezing his eyes shut. “Need to go back and help.” He moved to turn the engine back on, but Peter grabbed Sam’s wrists, using his own elbow to slam on the horn. Sam fought him, trying to get his wrist out of Peter’s sticky hands when the door wrenched open and the Winter Soldier was there, pulling Sam out of the car.

“I need to go back!” Sam shouted almost desperately, grunting as the Winter Soldier held him down, Dr. Banner appearing with a needle in hand. With the Winter Soldier holding Sam still, Dr. Banner quickly injected Sam and soon the man quieted down, going unconscious.

“Peter?” the Winter Soldier rasped out, and Peter couldn’t help but recoil away from the man, pressing himself against the passenger door, trying to make himself small. He knew the Winter Soldier wouldn’t hurt him, he _knew_ that, but Peter also remembered watching the man pulling the roof off the car, roughly yanking him out and presenting him to Kilgrave.

He remembered the Winter Soldier’s back as he turned towards Captain Rogers, taking his gun out as he stalked towards the car.

The Winter Soldier froze as he looked at Peter, jaw clenching before Dr. Banner appeared at the door.

“Peter?” Dr. Banner said, “are you— Oh. Oh dear.” He climbed in, reaching out then pausing, looking at Peter. Peter realized he was gasping now, air not reaching his lungs, and Dr. Banner’s warm, gentle hand was on his shoulder now.

“Peter, breathe with me,” Dr. Banner ordered gently. “In, two, three, four. Out, two, three, four. In, two, three, four. Out, two, three, four.” Peter gulped for air, his eyes blurring with tears and he blindly grabbed for Dr. Banner’s hand, clinging to it.

“’M home,” he croaked out. “T-tell me I’m home.” Dr. Banner’s other hand gently brushed the back of Peter’s head, pulling him forward. He could smell the scent of Indian spice and antiseptic on Dr. Banner, and he buried his face against the doctor’s chest with a sob.

“You’re home, Peter,” Dr. Banner said soothingly. “You’re home.”


End file.
